Watchers
by lPriime
Summary: A calming walk around town quickly turns into me being shot and ending up in a place I definitely didn't belong. Now, I have to help save the galaxy from an evil force that returns every 50,000 years and figure out why I was brought here in the first place. Will I die in the process? Most likely. But I sure as hell won't go quietly.
1. Chapter 1 Here We Go

**_**A/N: Welcome to my first story on here. Ever. Why am I doing this? Oh, right. I'm a nerd and found a way to be nerdier. It's Mass Effect... with a person from another universe. So original! Not a SI, though. I didn't put me into the story. The main character has some traits of mine, but he is not me. Anyway, some feedback would be nice... if anyone actually reads this. If you do, it would be much appreciated, and I thank you for reading. Tell me what ya think!**_**

 ** _ **The first two chapters are a bit boring. Those are to just to get things rolling. Stay until chapter 8, that's when things get really interesting. You won't regret staying.**_**

 _ ** _ **Now, on to the show**_**_ _ **!**_

...

I slammed my fist on the desk and pretty much screamed with my mouth closed. My buddy Dylon in the Skype chat started laughing his ass off some more at my misfortune. I glared at my computer screen as I respawned on the game. Said game being __Battlefield 1__.

"This is fucking bullshit," I muttered and began playing again.

" _ _The hell do you mean?__ " Dylon asked. " _ _You keep dying!__ "

"It's because of that little nerd in the back of the map with a sniper won't take his dick out of the sand and do anything! Like, what are you doing?! You are literally doing nothing for your team!"

" _ _He's keeping you away from the flags.__ "

I gave the screen a blank look as I stopped moving my character. I left the lobby and closed down the game. "I'm going to take a break for a bit. Maybe go for a walk. Talk in a bit?"

" _ _Yeah, sure thing. But a walk isn't gonna help you stop being trash at this game.__ " He started laughing again.

"I'm going now."

" _ _See ya.__ "

"Yeah, bye."

I closed Skype and powered off my computer. I stood up from my desk and looked down at it. I had a fairly nice set up. It was an L-shaped desk. I had two monitors; one for my PC and one for my PS3 and PS4. My computer sat in the floor, while my two game systems sat side-by-side on the desk. Next to those was an assortment of games. Some of the most notable were __The Witcher 3__ , the __Mass Effect Trilogy__ , a few older __Call of Duty__ games, and __The Last of Us__.

I left my bedroom. The main area of my apartment was typical. White walls with gray carpet. So original. I placed some posters around and pictures such as a Deadpool poster and a photo taken at my high school graduation of some friends and I. Actually furniture was sparse. Only a small couch and chair along with a coffee table. I spent most time in my room anyway unless I had someone over, which was rarely.

My jacket was on a hook on the back of the door. I threw that on while making my way over to my wallet and keys on the coffee table.

Phone? Already had that on me. Pocket knife? In my other pocket already. Wallet, check. Keys, check. I'm good to go.

I took a deep breath in of cold air as I stepped onto the sidewalk. Thirty degrees out? My type of weather. I could never stand the heat, but the cold? It was like it was my goddamn element. I could walk around without a jacket on, but I liked having a hood up. Perhaps it was because I was born in December that I liked the cold so much. Or perhaps not.

I began my walk as I usually did, picking a random direction and just walking and turning when I felt like it. I was out maybe an hour before I decided it was time to head home. It was dark out then. Maybe close to eight p.m. I was walking down a street when I stopped and looked down an alley to my left.

The alley led right behind my apartment building. The back door was always unlocked for people to take their trash out. It would cut my walk back by a minute maybe. It was simply a matter of whether how lazy I felt.

With my mind made up, I turned and went down the alley. As typical, it was barely lit with orange lighting. I kept scanning the alleyway as I had my head slightly lowered. My hand even found its way into my pocket to brush up against my pocket knife.

I didn't like the odd feeling I was getting. It felt like I was being watched, stalked. I wrapped my hand around my pocket knife just in case. You never knew with people anymore. Then again, I never trusted people I didn't know.

I was nearly to my apartment building when I spotted an individual step out from behind the dumpster that was back there. My mind barely registered the glint of silver in his hand as he pulled it from under his trench coat. I was just about to react when a loud bang echoed down the alley, and I was knocked to the ground next to the dumpster. The air was knocked out of me followed by intense pain in my upper right chest area. I managed to move enough to sit up against the wall next to the dumpster. My hand went up to my chest and came back covered in blood. It was hurting to breath.

 _ _That prick shot me…__

I looked up to see him standing over me. I couldn't make out much, just that he was wearing a trench coat and had long, unkempt hair. The alley light behind him was obscuring most of his features. But I did notice that he put the pistol he had in a holster on his left side.

"You seem to have taken quite the fall there, dearie," he said, followed by a mad sounding giggle. He sounded… familiar. I couldn't place where I had heard the voice before, but I knew I had heard it somewhere.

"Fuck… off," I said as loud as I could. It felt colder out now…

"Ooh! A bit of flare. I like it." He kneeled down next to me. "So, dearie, anything else you wish to say? Now would be the time." He giggled again.

His focus was on me, so he didn't notice as I slowly crept my hand to his holster. I wanted to smirk so badly as I grabbed the silver pistol and slid it out of its holding. He still didn't notice as I angled the gun so I would fire into his side.

"Yeah… I got one thing I want to say," I said.

"And that is?"

"I got your gun."

He tilted his head to the side slightly right before I pulled the trigger. The bastard was knocked backwards onto the ground and started pushing away until he was pressed against a wall on the other side of the alley. I let my hand fall as he started muttering to himself.

I ignored him as I glanced at the pistol. It was a silver plated Colt M1911. The grip was brown and leathery… I think. My head was getting all foggy. But damn, the pistol was nice as hell. Such a simplistic look to it, but it was done in such a way that made visually pleasing to look at.

 _ _Mine now… bitch.__

I was getting tired. Really tired. A tiredness that came with an uncomfortable coldness that crept in on you. It was a pleasant feeling. Probably due to the blood loss. That made sense. Blood transport oxygen to the rest of the body, and if you're losing it, your body isn't getting the necessary oxygen to function. At least, I was pretty sure that was how it went. Ah, fuck it…

The bastard across from me had stopped muttering. Actually, he had stopped moving. With a slow, painful exhale, I leaned my head backwards and closed my eyes… probably for the last time as I heard sirens in the distance.

…

My eyes shot open accompanied by a wave of pain going across my chest. My vision was blurry and everything looked… white? And brighter than I remembered. I looked across from me to see no one. The bastard that shot me was gone. There wasn't even a puddle of blood!

Maybe I was hallucinating a bit from blood loss? That sounded right because the lack of oxygen would fuck with my brain. But I didn't feel as weak as I did. I needed to get out of that alley, though.

With a pained groan, I started to stand up, using the dumpster next to me as a support. Once to my feet, I picked the right side of the alley to go down. It was closer to the main road. I had to use a wall for support as I slowly made my way out of the alleyway. A bit of blood that was covering my shirt and jacket now streaked across the wall as I leaned on it, the white making the red more prominent.

When I got to the end of the alley, my vision was starting to black out. Everything looked odd too. I saw bright signs with odd lettering. Some people walking by. No street though. It was all that whitewashed looking surface. I…

My legs gave out on my finally. I collapsed onto the ground, the pistol that I was still clutching flying out of my grasp. I heard some surprised gasps as people noticed me fall. I couldn't tell what was going on now. My head was so clouded that it wasn't even funny. All I remember was being rolled onto my back as someone tried to help before I lose consciousness.

…

 _ _I stood in a black void of sorts. It was odd. I felt no haziness from before. No pain. Actually, I didn't feel anything at all.__

 _ _Was I dead?__

 _ _Suddenly, I heard voices in the darkness. I closed my eyes and tried to listen.__

 _ _"I got no pulse!"__

 _ _"Prep the defib!"__

 _ _"Do something!"__

 _ _"Captain, get her out of here."__

 _ _"One, two, three… clear!"__

 _ _"Nothing. Hit him again!"__

 _ _"One, two, three… clear!"__

 _ _"...I got a pulse! It's weak. We need to get him to a hospital… if any are still standing."__

 _ _What the hell? Is this some kind of weird dream that my mind is making up as paramedics work on me? Or was that what was actually being said? Fuck it! I'll find out if I… wake up…__

 _ _I saw something before I woke up. It was some kind a floating structure, but it was too blurry to make out completely. It looked__ _ _massive__ _ _and__ _ _had two prongs of sorts down most of its length. Yellow caution lights flashed around it…__

…

Unlike the first time, my eyes opened slowly. It took a moment to adjust, but I was able to make out that I was in a hospital room. I felt weak as hell though. I glanced down at myself to see wires coming from under my hospital gown to a machine off to my right that was beeping rhythmically. But I also saw that bandage that was over a spot near my right shoulder. That what was still causing a painful ache while the rest of me just ached from not moving much.

The blinds in my room were closed. While not much light was getting in, I could tell it was late morning/early afternoon. I was fine with that. I didn't like being in bright rooms anyway. I wondered how long I was out though. It was about eight p.m. when I was shot.

I tried sitting up a bit more, but all that I got was a stab of pain from my upper right chest. As I closed my eyes and groaned in pain, there was a swishing noise followed by approaching footsteps. I opened my eyes to see a nurse standing there with a… tablet? The hell?

"Oh, you're awake," she said. "The doctor didn't think you would be up yet."

I grunted. "Well, the doctor was obviously wrong."

She nodded. "I was coming in to take some vitals. You don't mind, do you?"

"Nope, not at all."

The nurse went to work, checking the monitor first. After typing down my vitals on there (when the hell did the hospital start using tablets, though?), she checked my bandage. I hissed in pain slightly as she made sure the tape was secured. She apologized and made her way to the door when it opened.

I nearly freaked at that. The swishing noise I heard was the door, because it fucking slid into the damn wall! Doors in hospitals weren't supposed to do that! What the actual fuck?!

I actually freaked when I saw who, or what, walked into the room. Some thin and lanky being. Brownish skin. Large, narrow eyes. Horn-like things on top of its head. Nope, nope, nope! This had to be a dream. I had to be so drugged up that my dreams were lucid as hell. There had to be a reason why a fucking salarian from Mass Effect had just walked into my hospital room!

"Calm down," the nurse said soothingly in an attempt to get me to relax. "That's just the doctor. No need to be afraid."

Afraid?! She thought I was afraid?! I was _not_ afraid!

"Out!" I shouted, pointing towards the door in a sudden movement. In that movement, a chair covered in a purple glow went flying into the wall near the doctor. When I looked down at myself again I saw that I too was glowing with purple… energy.

 _WHAT THE FUCK?!_

 _..._

 _ _ **A/N: Sorry for the shortness, but I just don't want to go "Oh, I'm in Mass Effect. I'll just join Shepard now." within the first chapter. That's no fun. Too rushed. Especially when other stories have done similar things like that. Also, I want our main character to get use to things for a chapter or two. But I have plans for this story up until the beginning of what would be Mass Effect 3... if things are even close to the actual game anymore at that point.**__

 _ _ **Anyway, constructive criticism would be nice. Just don't review with "Good job" or "I like it" or "I don't like it". Tell me what exactly you like or don't like. That's the only way I'll be able to improve. But I have gone on enough with this author's note.**__

 _ _ **lPriime, signing off.**__


	2. Chapter 2 Going Down

_**A/N: So, I want to address somethings that I should have in the first chapter. I want this story to be at least 24 chapters, more would be nice. I know what I want to do. Hell, it could be over 24 chapters when it's done. And I want 4 stories that span the entire trilogy. Why 4? There are only three games? I have plans. You'll see.**_

 _ **Anyway, thanks to those who viewed, followed, favorited and reviewed. I hope you like this quick update.**_

...

The next day was spent in solitude and silence. I tried going to sleep and hoping I woke up in a normal hospital with normal doctors. That didn't work. I kept waking up in the same hospital room. I didn't allow anyone in for anything. Not even nurses to check my vitals or my bandage. I wanted to be alone, to try and think things through.

Okay, so I got shot in an alley. That's how this started. I passed out briefly and woke up in a different place. It had to be a different place. It wasn't the same alley. Anyway, I then stumble out and collapse. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in a hospital room with a goddamn salarian as my doctor. How did that happen? How the fuck did I have biotics as well?!

This certainly wasn't a dream. It was real. I was pulled into… the future? Another universe? Whatever. I wasn't where I should be. I probably wouldn't see my friends or family ever again if that's the case. But I knew what was going to happen here. I could do… something. If this was a world based on the _Mass Effect_ games, that is. But it most likely was since my doctor was a salarian.

 _It's a good thing that I completely fucking love those games, even with Mass Effect 3's shitty ending._

Could I somehow help this place's Shepard? Could I save people who are meant to die? Should I… should I try to join the Normandy? I mean, I did know how to shoot multiple weapons, but in active combat… I wasn't too sure. I could try to help somehow if that couldn't happen. Sell info to the Shadowbroker to give Shepard? Maybe, but the Shadowbroker was shady as hell. Decisions, decisions…

There was a knock on the door. I ignore the first two. Three more followed before I answered with an annoyed "What?"

"Sir, a C-Sec detective is here to ask you some questions," came the voice of a male nurse.

C-Sec detective? It better not be who I thought it was. But he dealt with narcotics or something, didn't he? Why would he come to ask a gunshot victim questions? That seemed like a job for regular officers.

But what would I say? That I was shot in one universe and woke up in another? That sure as hell wouldn't fly. I could make up something that sounded true. Hmm, a Blue Suns recruit tried to mug me. He tried to search me after shooting me. I took the gun from him and scared him off. That sounds believable, right? I was so fucked…

"Fine," I grumbled. "Let him in."

The door swished open… annnnnd yep. It was Garrus motherfuckin' Vakarian walking in with his C-Sec armor and iconic visor. He looked taller than in the games. Or maybe it what he actually looks like. Speaking of looks, he looked a bit more… scaly than in the games. Not much though. Maybe due to the fact that he wasn't pixels on a screen right then.

He stood a couple feet from the bottom of the bed and cleared his throat. "Hello, I'm detective Garrus Vakarian," yes, I knew who you were, "and I'm here to ask you some questions about your attack."

I blew air out of my nose lightly. "Well, ask away."

"Very well." He activated his omni-tool, which looked pretty badass in person, and started something on the device. Maybe something to track the conversation. "Do you remember why you were in that alley in the first place?"

"It was a shortcut." Well, it was… back where I was from anyway.

"And where were you going?"

"Nowhere, really. I was just out for a walk."

Garrus hummed in thought as he tapped at his omni-tool again. "Okay. Do you remember how the attack took place?"

"Yeah."

"Can you explain it?"

I sighed. "Sure. I was walking down the alley when someone stood from behind the dumpster and pointed an old human gun at me. He didn't even ask for anything when he shot me. As he tried to search me while I was on the ground, I grabbed the pistol from his holster and scared him off. That is the simplest and most accurate way I could describe it."

The turian C-Sec detective nodded, doing something on his omni-tool before talking. "That's okay. If you remember, I would like if you could describe the shooter."

"Uh…" Shit, I forgot he would probably ask that. "Um, he was about my height, maybe slightly taller. He had a buzz cut hair style. Oh, the guy had a tattoo on his left cheek. Looked like a white sun on a blue background."

His mandibles pulled tighter to his face as he grumbled something. Huh, interesting. Must be a show of dislike. Turian facial expressions were said to be hard to read. Then again, they always looked like they had sticks up their asses.

After typing on his omni-tool some more, he looked up and nodded.

"Thank you, sir. This should be enough information to look for your attacker. Don't worry, we'll find him," he said.

"Well, I hope so. And don't call me 'sir'. Daniel would be just fine," I replied, adjusting in my bed slightly.

"Okay, Daniel. We'll let you know should anything come up."

Garrus was almost at the door when something came to mind.

"Hey, wait a second," I called out. He stopped and turned but said nothing. "What happened to that pistol I was holding?"

"Evidence locker at C-Sec," he answered, then tilted his head just a bit to his right. "Why do you ask?"

"Could I… have that back?"

"You want the gun that you were shot with?" The lean backwards he did was enough to know what he thought about that.

I smirked. "It's a nice gun."

The turian looked down in thought. A few moments later, he looked up and said, "I'll see what I can do. You have a good day now, Daniel."

"You too, Detective."

And with him gone, that male nurse poked his head into the room.

"Sir?" He asked, a bit hesitantly though. Must have been told that I threatened to biotically throw the doctor and nurse out the window when I woke up. Actually, now that I thought about it, that wasn't like me. I was usually calm and controlled when dealing with people. Hmm…

"Sir?" Came the question again.

I blinked and looked up. "Yes?"

"I need to get some information on you. Right now, we've been addressing you as 'Gunshot Victim'," he said.

"Fine."

The nurse walked in holding a tablet thing. "Okay. First and last name."

"Daniel Ironwill."

He typed that in and was rewarded with a beep. "There is very little information on you here. Date of birth is December seventh, 2162?"

I had to blink a few times at that. The month and date was correct, but the year was definitely wrong. Then again, I was pulled into another universe or something to the year 2183. So, I just nodded.

The nurse just started saying information that was on the tablet then. It was basic information, but it was all correct. My height, weight, blood type, all of it was correct. How was it? I haven't even been here a week. They shouldn't have all of that info. This was getting interesting…

…

The next day in the hospital was spent walking around mostly. The doctor wanted me to get up and moving. My wound felt okay. Nearly healed actually. Medicine in the future was amazing!

It was when I was practicing with my biotics (which I still didn't understand how I had them. Just another question to the steadily growing pile) when the door swished open. It knocked me out of my concentration and the chair I was levitating fell to the ground loudly. The nurse jumped at the sound. It was the same one from the first day in here.

"Sorry," I said. "Was just practicing." I made a show to flare my biotics, which was fairly easy. Actually, using biotics was surprisingly easy in general. Then again, I hadn't tried any combat moves. I didn't want to Warp a hole in the hospital wall. I don't think the staff here would appreciate that.

She took a breath and shook her head. "That's okay. I was actually coming in because the doctor thinks your fit to leave today." She waved the tablet she was holding a bit. "Your discharge paperwork is right here."

"Oh?" I was not expecting to get out so soon. Another day or two was my guess. I won't complain, though. I didn't like being in hospitals for extended periods of time. I had enough of them as a kid with my asthma.

"Yes. I just need your signature and a few other things, and you will be good to go."

"Well, let's not waste time then."

She brought the tablet over and and handed that and a stylus to me. After being shown where to sign and signing, she took the device back.

"Now there is just one last thing that needs to be taken care of," she said.

I raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?"

"Your medical bill. You don't have any insurance that we could see on your records, but we did discover that you had a bank account."

A bank account? Biotics and a bank account. How the hell? "Uh, can I check that account right now?"

"Sure. Let me just open up the extranet quickly here." She handed me the tablet again. "Here you go."

The nurse was kind enough to open up yo the bank website. I tapped login and asked for my email and password.

 _Shit… uh, how about the email I used back home and the typical password I would use? That may work._

I nearly shit bricks when it did work. Nothing was making sense here. First I'm taken into the Mass Effect world. I had biotics now. I had a bank account in my name. And now…

"Holy shit!" I shouted, making the nurse jump again. I looked at the screen again. "500,000 credits?!" I took a moment to think before looking at the nurse again. "Could I pay that bill now?"

"Uh, definitely. Just allow me to send the bill to your account quickly."

We swapped the tablet back and forth once again. She sent the bill, and I took the thing back to pay the bill.

 _2000 credits? Not as bad as I thought. I certainly had the money to pay for it. The question now was how the fuck I had a bank account with half a million credits in it._

Once that was taken care of, I was allowed to leave on my own freewill. My shirt I was wearing when I was shot was ruined, but the staff here was kind enough to get me a new one and clean my pants and jacket. So, I changed into all that and left the hospital.

My eyes had to adjust to outside lighting since I had been inside for three days. The artificial lighting of the Presidium was nice (the thought that I was on the Citadel was mind-blowing. I had peeked out my window the first day in the hospital to see where I was. To say I was surprised to see the Presidium lake below me would be an understatement. But actually being outside was amazing. Everything was so smooth and clean and bright. Various species were all walking by me as I mindlessly started walking. I spotted several asari, turians, salarians, and humans the most. But there were a few volus, an elcor or two, and even a drell! They all looked so fucking weird. Asari all looked beautiful as hell. Drell were all scaly like a damn reptile. Volus… they just looked awkward as hell, waddling along in their suits. And the elcor, those bastards looked like hairless gorillas. There were also mumbles of 'tourist' as I nearly walked into a few people here and there.

It was nearly lunch time, and I was hungry. I started to look for a place to eat when I realized something. I didn't have a way to pay. No 'chits' as I think they were called. Maybe I could get an omni-tool! I could pay directly from that.

So, I searched for a shop that sold omni-tools. It took fifteen minutes, but a sign in a window of a shop caught my attention. It was a blinking neon sign that read 'omni-tools'. I made an immediate bee-line to it.

Inside the place was nothing I was expecting. Polished hard wood floors covered the ground. Shelves lined the walls, covered in assortments of technology. An old style counter sat at the back where an older looking human male stood behind a futuristic cash register.

"How ya doin', kid?" The guy greeted warmly. "Looking for anything specific?"

I cleared my throat and walked up to the counter. "Uh, yeah. I'm looking for a new omni-tool. I want something really nice that can handle any situation." Yeah, that seemed good enough. I wasn't sure if I would try to join Shepard, but having a badass omni-tool would help with all that is about to go down.

The guy tapped his chin. "I think I have something to suit your needs." He then kneeled down behind the counter. There was the sound of shuffling boxes, something falling, him cursing before he came back up with small box.

"Here ya go. Top of the line. Borderline military grade. Hell, it's better than what the military uses," he said.

"Can I try it out first?" I asked.

"Sure thing."

I opened the box carefully. I didn't want to damage the thing. What I pulled out wasn't what I expected. It was like a thin, black wristband, maybe the width of my index finger. I just snapped it onto my right wrist.

 _Now to figure out how to activate it…_

All it took was a thought really. A mental command and the thing powered up, the orange hard-light interface going around my forearm. I swiped around the screen for a moment. It was just a bigger and better smartphone essentially. Only this thing could shoot fireballs and turn into a blade. So much better than a Samsung.

"Can I pay directly from this?" I asked, shaking my arm with the omni-tool on it.

The guy told me yeah. All I had to do was download the application for the bank my account was in, then all I had to do was swipe my omni-tool over a scanner and the amount would be subtracted. When I was done, I was up one omni-tool and down 1,830 more dollars. So worth it, though.

I continued walking along the Presidium, toying with my new device. I still wanted to get something to eat, and I could now pay for it without worry. But something caught my eye. It was a group of individuals looking at a video screen. It was of some news report. With me being curious about things, I walked over too.

The panel at the bottom of the screen read the following:

 ** _Human Colony Eden Prime attacked by unknown force._**

My stomach twisted. It was starting. Saren and Sovereign had gone after the beacon. That meant Shepard should either be on their way to the Citadel or already be here. And fuck! I didn't know what I wanted to do yet.

It was a split second decision, but I went over to a Rapid Transport Station and called a cab. When the aircar (it was weird seeing them) landed, I got in and told the onboard VI where I wanted to go. Dr. Michel's clinic. Unfortunately, I was informed that I had to be dropped off a level below then take an elevator up. Whatever, it was good enough.

When the thing took off, I was a little nervous. I had never been in a plane before, and this was like a small plane. But the view out the window… it was spectacular. The arms of the ancient, Reaper-built space station stretching out towards the bright colors of the Serpent Nebula was breathtaking. Hell, the Citadel alone was breathtaking. I loved the stars and all when I was younger. Still did. Seeing something like this in person was like a dream. It was fucking awesome!

The aircar finally landed. I payed for that fare and hurried out. Finding a map to learn where to go was easy. All I had to do was search up map of the Citadel award and floor I was on. I then took off at a fast walk. I rounded a corner to an unpleasant sight.

There was a building on fire. Several people stood outside and a safe distance away from the flames. No fire crew was in sight. I jogged over to the group and looked at the building.

"Did anyone see Sarah?"

"No! She didn't get out?"

A faint thudding was heard from above. Everyone looked up to the third floor to see a woman banging on the window that covered the entire wall. No one made a move to do anything. They all rather gasp and point and feel sorry for the woman. For some reason, that really ticked me off. So much to the point that I started marching into the building.

"Is he insane?"

 _Slightly, buddy. Slightly._

I ran up the stairs as fast as I could. I held a sleeve of my jacket over my mouth and nose. The first floor was simply smoky. I didn't bother looking to the second floor as I turned up the stairs to the third. Pushing through the door to the third floor, I was greeted with flames about halfway down the hall. I could feel the heat from where I was. On the other side of the fire was where that woman was.

My biotics flared as an idea came to me. So far everything had been practically just 'think and it happens'. Biotic moves should be that same, right? _Hell, only one way to find out. Hopefully I don't kill myself in the process._

There was a minuscule tingle in the back of my head as I tried to focus on building up dark energy into my hand. I concentrated for several seconds before launching my arm forward. The result was as desired. A biotic shockwave moved down thto hall, hitting the flames and snuffing them out. I jogged pass the burnt section of the hallway and into the room at the end.

It looked like a fancy business office. Maroon carpet lined the floors. Wooden panels made up the wall. There was a bookshelf filled with actual paper books. The desk was made of actual wood as well. Behind that was the wall length window. And the terrified woman.

"Come on," I said. "I cleared the way dow-"

There was a loud whoosh from behind me, and the intense heat returned. I turned around. The hall was engulfed in more flames now that came from one of the side rooms. It was too much for my biotics. I was surprised I had even managed that shockwave.

My shoulders slumped. "Fuck…"

"How are we going to get out?!" The woman shrieked. She started pacing and tapping her finger together.

I looked around. _Uh, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! What can I… oh hello!_

On the left side of the room was a fancy display case. I mean it had a red background and polished wooden frame and lights shining on the displayed item, for fuck's sake. Inside was something I loved. An M16A4.

An idea started forming. I glanced from the weapon to the window and back again. I smirked. My idea could just work… if my biotics would corporate with me.

I walked up the the case and examined it. In a quick movement, I smashed my elbow into the glass. The woman yelped in surprise as I brushed my elbow of any glass shards that might have gotten stuck to my jacket.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

I didn't answer. Instead, I picked up the rifle and examined it. It was in nice condition. Really nice for something that was about 200 years old. I ejected the magazine to find quite the surprise. It was loaded! Was that even safe? Probably not, but it worked in my favor.

Switching the safety off, I told the woman to move out of the way. She only did so after I took aim at the window. I fired off a single three round burst. It did enough damage. It would work.

"What are you doing?!" Man, this lady with her questions. _What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to save you!_

Taking a deep breath, I started running towards the window once the woman was in from of where I shot at. She turned around when I threw the M16 at the window. It broke through the glass easily due to the bullets having weakened it.

"What are you-"

She didn't get to finish. I practically tackled her out the smashed open window. My biotics flared and I kept chanting one thing in my head.

I'm light as a feather. I'm light as a feather. I'm light as a feather.

 _If it didn't work, at least the woman would get a softer landing than me._

But the sudden, hard impact never came. Instead, it was a soft thud as my back met the ground. I opened my eyes (I hadn't realized I closed them) and saw the the woman and I were safely on the ground with the crowd of people staring at us dumbfounded.

 _Holy shit! It actually worked! I actually lowered my mass with biotics. How the fuck did I accomplish that in the first try?_

I let go of the woman and sat up. The slap I received from her was probably deserved. I did tackle her out a third floor window of a burning building. Still, the slap hurt.

A fire crew was finally here and getting to work on the flames. And me? I just sat there on the ground, unbelieving of what I just did.

"That was quite impressive."

 _...No fucking way._

 _..._

 ** _A/N: Who could it be? Who the hell knows. You'll have to wait until the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed._**

 ** _lPriime, signing off._**


	3. Chapter 3 Evidence

_**A/N: Well, shit. I wanted to get this up about a week ago, but life had other plans. My family wanted to do stuff. A friend of mine was going through something, so I checked on them and tried to help most of the week. School got busy. It was a clusterfuck.**_

 _ **So, find out now who the mystery person is. Oh, also, Daniel does have his personal possessions like his phone and all. I forgot to put that in last chapter, and I thought it was just minor enough that I would tell you all here.**_

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

…

"That was quite impressive."

 _...No fucking way._

I knew that voice! It sounded softer and less militaristic, but I fucking knew it!

I hurried to my feet and looked at the person who was addressing me. And it was exactly who I thought it was. Commander Shepard. A femshep, actually. That N7 armor was quite noticeable as hell, too, with the red and white down the arm plus the N7 logo and Mantis sniper rifle sticking up from behind her back. _Must be an infiltrator._ And this Shepard looked attractive as all hell. Her hair looked like it was once a black or a brown but at one point been dyed with some red highlights all through it. It all was pulled back into a ponytail, but a single strand was loose and hanging just to the side of her right eye. Speaking of her eyes, they were literally the most unique that I have ever seen. Hazel circled around the pupil while most of the iris surrounding the hazel bit was a gray-bluish color. And…

 _Okay, I should stop before my thoughts take a bad turn. She's beautiful, just leave it at that._

Ashley Williams and Kaidan Alenko were standing right behind her, donned in their default armor like in the first game. They both were looking at me with impressed looks as well. Williams probably because she's just a badass marine who appreciates a direct approach. Alenko because I'm a civilian biotic that can lower his mass apparently. Hell, now that I thought about it, I didn't think I remembered seeing any non-asari lower their mass and float down in the games.

"Uh, hi," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. I was never good at talking to new people. Actually, no. It wasn't that. I just didn't like to.

Shepard looked back up to the window before saying something. "That was quite the stunt you pulled off." Damn, hearing Jennifer Hale's Shepard in person was odd. Also, she sounded younger. Interesting.

"Yeah, well, no one was doing anything. A woman was trapped, so I took the initiative."

"You jumped out of a building," Williams deadpanned.

"It worked, didn't it?" I asked with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes but said nothing.

"Soooo," I drew out the word, "what errand are you three on that needs full armor and weapons? Must be pretty serious."

Williams and Alenko shared a look while Shepard gave a slight smile.

"Actually, it is," Shepard said. "And you seem trustworthy, so I'll tell ya. I'm looking for evidence on a Spectre, Saren Arterius."

"Saren… Saren," I pretended to think about that name as if I only heard it once or twice before. I wasn't sure what my plan was going to be, so I just held up on telling anyone about future events. "Isn't he the Council's top Spectre?"

"Yes, he is. He was responsible for the attack on Eden Prime. I'm sure you heard about it. The news is buzzing about it."

"He was behind the attack?" I thought about my next words a moment, to be sure it was what I wanted. "Ma'am, if he was behind the attack, then I want to help. And if he can take on an entire colony, you're gonna need some help. I mean, he's the best of the Spectres. He's gonna be a tough problem."

Shepard glanced back at her companions then back to me. "Allow me to discuss it with my team first. Looks like someone wants to talk to you anyway."

I raised and eyebrow as she turned away to talk to the two other marines. When I turned around to see what she was talking about, I was greeted by the sight of the woman I saved.

"Yes?" I said.

"I just wanted to thank you… for saving me," she said.

"It was no problem. And sorry… for tackling you out the window."

She smirked. "A little warning would have been nice. But thank you anyway. Is there anyway I can repay you?"

I hummed in thought before flaring with biotics faintly. The M16 on the ground flew into my waiting hand after a moment of concentration.

"Can I have this?" I asked with a grin.

"Done. It would have burned in the fire anyway. My boss won't know it's gone. That asshole better give me two weeks paid vacation after I nearly died."

I chuckled as she left and I turned back to Shepard, who was done talking with Williams and Alenko. The latter two looked a bit displeased, Williams more so than Alenko. Actually, Alenko looked more unsure than displeased.

"So?" I asked. "What's the verdict?"

"You can come along while we gather evidence. After that, we will see," Shepard said, her tone more towards her commander side.

"Great," I said, shouldering the rifle I held. "But we have missed one tiny thing that may help."

"And that is?" Alenko asked.

"Introductions."

Shepard nodded. "Yeah, that may help." She gestured to Williams first. "This is Gunnery Chief Williams," she gestured to Alenko. "This is Lieutenant Alenko. I'm Commander Shepard."

"Daniel Ironwill," I gave a slight nod. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," she said. "Now let's get moving."

I gave a mock salute before we got going. "Where are we heading, Commander?"

"A clinic run by one Doctor Michel. Gotta ask her a few questions."

No one said anything after that. We just walked further away from the formerly burning building and into an elevator that would take us up a level. The elevator itself was spacious, but damn it was slow! Apparently, the slowness in game translates to real life. Who the fuck thought this speed was a good idea? This was gonna get irritating quick. Damn loading screens…

I groaned lightly as my right shoulder began to ache, near the nearly healed gunshot wound.

"The fall actually hurt?" Williams quipped.

"No," I said, "I just got out of the hospital about two hours ago. Was taken in for a gunshot wound. It still aches a bit."

"You just got out of the hospital and thought that jumping out of windows was a good idea?"

"It's not like I was planning on doing it. I'll grab a pain killer from this doctor we are going to meet."

Williams just rolled her eyes.

 _What was her… deal… Oh, yeah. She lost her entire unit on Eden Prime. Now she seems… annoyed? Yeah, annoyed is a good word to use, I having survivor's guilt? Seems accurate as well. Hmm, I try to help if I'm able to stick around._

The elevator _finally_ made it to our desired stop. We piled out and followed Shepard as she made an immediate turn towards the clinic. The closer we got, the more prepared I tried to get. Fist thugs would be in there, meaning a short fire fight. I flipped the safety off on the M16 and set it to single fire mode.

Shepard approached the door and gave us a glance and a nod. She opened the door and we are met with a sight I was quite familiar with. A thug was threatening the doctor. Garrus was crouched behind the little divider wall with his pistol drawn.

 _Just like old times…_

I steeped to Shepard's side and whistled. That caught the attention of the thugs, because apparently three armed marines and an armed civilian walking in didn't. The dumbass closest to Michel grabbed her. I raised my M16 and gave a smile.

"Hey, asshole," I said. Then I pulled the trigger.

I didn't aim for the bastard holding the doc, Garrus had that covered. I aimed for his buddy behind him. His head jerked backwards as the rifle round torn into his head. A splatter of blood appeared on the wall behind him as his body fell over. Garrus popped out of his hiding spot and fired a single bullet into the head of the guy holding the doctor. Blood and brain mattered splattered onto her white uniform and she shrieked. Anyone else was quickly dispatched.

 _Holy shit… I seriously just killed someone, didn't I? Shouldn't I be feeling guilty or something? I should, I think. So why don't I feel anything?_

"Great timing, Shepard. Gave me a clear shot at the bastard!" Garrus said with a sort of enthusiasm that one may get from adrenaline as he holstered his pistol.

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes a bit. "You could have shot the hostage. That was reckless. You too, Ironwill."

"Huh?" I said, looking away from the corpses. I still wasn't feeling anything over their deaths. Not sure if that was a good thing or not. "What did you say, Commander?"

"Randomly firing on them while they had a hostage," she said, eyes narrowed. "That was reckless and dangerous. If you're gonna tag along with us, you're gonna have to know when to act and when not to."

"Right. Sorry."

Her expression softened. "Are you alright?"

I blinked. "Yeah, just… thinking."

She looked behind me a moment. "Never did that before, huh?"

"Nope."

"You wanted to help. That may be a regular occurrence. You can leave any time if you don't think you can handle it."

"That's not it, Commander." I looked back at the bodies. "It's that I feel nothing about doing it. That fact that I killed someone isn't bothering me. The fact that I'm feeling nothing over killing a person for the first time is."

Shepard smiled more. "You're worried about it. Good. I would be more worried if you weren't having any internal conflict over it."

My gaze fell to the smooth, white floor. I hummed in thought. "I suppose you're right."

"Trust me, Ironwill."

 _Huh, she seems more like a Paragon._

I had to take a step forward following a hard slap to the back of my head. I looked to Shepard to see her smiling at me.

"What was that for?" I asked as I rubbed the spot she smacked.

"For being reckless," she replied simply.

 _Oooookay, maybe she is more of a Paragade._

Shepard went over to Michel, who was sitting on a medical bed as Garrus and Alenko checked on her. Williams was hanging back a bit, keeping an eye on the door and also Garrus.

 _Ah, her distrust of aliens. I'll have to work on that if I stay with the team._

Seeing as everything was covered, I set my M16 on top of the divider wall and leaned against it. I listened in to the conversation, even though I had heard it several times before during my multiple playthroughs of the _Mass Effect_ games. But Michel's accent always grated me. I never fully understood why.

"Doctor Michel, are you sure you're fine?" Garrus asked as Shepard stopped by the bed.

She nodded slowly. "Yes. Thanks to five of you."

 _Oh, god! That accent! It annoyed the hell out of me while I played the games, but in person? Maybe I should get earplugs._

"What was that about, though?" Shepard asked.

"Those were Fist's thugs. They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian."

"Quarian?" Alenko questioned.

"Yes. A female quarian came in here a few days ago. She had been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide."

"Do you know where she went?" I asked. Obviously, I knew, but I had to keep face until I figured out completely what I plan on doing. I didn't think spewing info that I shouldn't know would be a good thing at this time without a plan.

Michel nodded. "I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Not anymore," Garrus said with a light shake of his head. "Now he works for Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it."

 _Should I mention the Shadow Broker is a… Nah. It would be redundant right now anyway. If I'm still around during the Shadow Broker DLC, I'll let it slip to Liara…_ _if I remember._

I shook my head. "That halfwit betrayed him. And I thought stupidity couldn't reach higher limits. The offer Saren gave him must have been quite the generous one."

Garrus nodded. "He's right. Whatever that quarian has must be big if Saren wants it. Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get."

Shepard thought for second then turned to Michel. "Is there anything else you could tell us?"

"I'm not sure," she said, massaging her left temple. "Like I said, she want to trade information for a place to hide. She didn't… wait, geth! Her information had something to do with the geth!"

"She must have something to link Saren to the geth. There's no way the Council can ignore this!" Garrus said with absolute certainty.

I smirked, resting a hand on my M16. "It seems like this asshole is about to have a very bad day."

Garrus looked at Shepard with an almost pleading look. "This is your show, Shepard. But I want Saren down as much as you do. I'm coming with you!" The turian said.

"You're a turian," she pointed out. "Why do you want to bring him down?"

"I couldn't find the proof I needed in my investigation. But I know what was really going on. Saren's traitor to the Council and a disgrace to my people!"

"You do need all the help you can get on this one, Shepard," I said. Rather not risk the chance of her saying no.

To my relief, she smiled. "Welcome aboard, Garrus."

They shook hands… er, hand and talon.

"You know, we aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunter named Wrex to take him out," Garrus informed her.

"Oooh, a krogan," I said, picking up my M16 and moving around the divider wall. "Several hundred pounds of muscle and rage."

Shepard was trying not to smile as Alenko asked, "What's he doing there?"

"Fist accused him of making threats. We brought Wrex in for a little talk. If we hurry, we can catch him at the academy before he leaves."

I turned and headed for the door then. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's roll!"

"I think I may regret bringing him," I heard Shepard mutter as she followed. A smartass smile formed on my face.

We went straight for an elevator to head down to the C-Sec academy. I had to suppress a groan as the thing went up at an agonizing speed again. _I'm gonna find the idiot who designed this and bitch smack them._

Garrus was standing next to me. He glanced over then went back to looking ahead. I looked over at him from the corner of my eye with a slightly raised eyebrow. His head perked up and he did a double take on me.

"You're the guy from the hospital," he said. "I came by earlier, but they said you already were discharged."

"Why were you coming back?" I asked. I couldn't think of a reason for him to. _Unless..._

"Went to give you this." He pulled the M1911 from his left hip and held it out to me. "Since technically you were in possession of it, it's yours. Had to pull a few strings though."

I snatched it from his outstretched talon and looked at it like a kid on Christmas. I ran a finger along the metal plating, but stopped when my finger went over some kind of grooves on the other side. I flipped it over and discovered something I did not remember being on it. It was the word 'Prime' in a cursive writing engraved in gold on the gun. _Now how the fuck did this get here…?_

"That is quite an old gun," Williams commented from behind me.

"It's the one I was shot with."

Shepard blinked and looked over at me, a near lost for words. "You… you wanted the _gun you were shot with?_ "

"It's a nice gun!"

She shook her head as the doors opened up. To our left was big, bad, and scary himself—threatening some C-Sec officers. Typical Wrex… actually just typical krogan in general.

"You want me to arrest you?"

"I want you to try."

 _God, Wrex is such a badass! …But knowing him, to even have a conversation without him threatening me, calling me weak, or anything else like that, I'll have to show I have some balls to get shit done, or in krogan terminology, a 'quad'. Aaaannnddd my mind just drifted to_ _the question as to_ _why krogan have four testicles. The fuck is wrong with me?_

Wrex noticed us and lumbered pass the C-Sec officer, ignoring the officers words and giving them a sneer. He stopped in front of Shepard. "Yes, human?"

"I'm trying to bring down Saren. Garrus here told us you'll be here, and that you're going after Fist. Chance has it, we are too," she said to him curtly.

"Then I'm assuming you now why?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Help me kill that half-brained pyjak, and I'll make sure you get the quarian—safe and sound."

Shepard glanced at the rest of us, seeing if anyone had any objection to that. I shrugged, not really caring. Also, the six of us would just tear up Chora's Den easily. Hell, Wrex alone could tear it up easily. _Actually, could we just let him loose in there. That would be a sight to see._

"Fine," she said. "Let's get going."

With that, we made our way Chora's Den, weaving through the Wards and the multitude of people. Since this wasn't a game, there were no limits to the amount of people can be in an area. Place actually feels alive.

Anyway, we reached the walkways outside the bar and talked strategy quickly. Williams and Wrex would go in first, hitting the thugs inside hard. Garrus and Alenko would follow, providing a more tactically approach. I would hang back with Shepard since I had no protection whatsoever. Shepard would obviously be hanging back because she would be using a sniper.

"Ah, Shepard, not to sound rude or anything, but that won't be the most effective weapon in this situation," I said. It was the truth.

She just smirked and pulled her sniper off her back. "Watch me."

I guess with that we were heading in because Williams and Wrex took places at the side of the door. The other two got in their positions while I switched my M16 to three-round burst as Shepard scoped in on the door.

She started to count down. I felt a tingle of anticipation course through me, causing me to shiver. "Three… two… one. Go!"

Wrex and Williams opened the door and charged in. The were met with a hail of bullets that their shields held back. They matched the hail with their own fire. Garrus and Alenko went in next, the former letting go a concussive shot while the latter let go a lift at one thug.

I aimed down the sights and fired the first chance I had. The thug's shields were able to hold off two of the bullets as the third went through the lower part of his neck. Adjusting my spot a bit, I fired two more bursts, killing another and clipping a third. He was finished off with a shotgun blast by Wrex, splattering the wall behind him with a large amount of blood… and probably some flesh, too. That ended the fighting almost as quick as it started. _Six really is better than three._

When Shepard got up and entered the club, I followed behind her with my rifle slightly raised. Inside was… a mess. Bullet holes riddled across almost every surface, more due to the thugs pathetic aim. Pools of blood were already starting to pool around the several bodies that littered the floor. It was not a sight for the weary.

I didn't know what it was, but something happened. I was looking at the blank face and glazed eyes of a dead thug when I got this heated sensation build up in the back of my head. It was around the spot that got the tingle everytime my biotics flared up. But this wasn't my biotics. This built up until it was a sharp, hot pain in that area of my head. Then came this… anger. Whatever it was did cause too much visual effect on me. My hands tightened around my M16, though, and I realized my expression turned into a cold glare.

I walked at a determined pace and practically slammed my fist into the control panel of the door leading to the back room. My biotics flared to life almost on their own as I stepped through. The two shaking idiots with guns were on the other side as expect.

"Get back or we'll—" He wasn't able to finish as I tore their guns from their hands with my biotics and threw them with enough force to dent the wall and shatter the guns.

My eyes narrowed as I spoke, my words deathly calm. "Here is what you tow idiots are gonna do, so listen closely. You're going to going to walk out of here without incident, or I'm going to flay you alive with my goddamn mind." For some reason, I felt that wasn't an idle threat either.

They sprinted out of there like Olympic competitors, nearly running right into the rest of the team. At that instant, the sharp pain that came before came back for a second before it was gone completely. In that second, the anger I was feeling dissipated. I blinked, trying to figure out what the hell that was. There was something similar felt when I woke up in the hospital but on a much lesser level. I had been getting more irritable and hostile since getting here…

"Remind me never to get on his bad side," I heard Alenko say to someone.

I looked back and said in an almost emotionless tone, "Come on. Fist should be back there."

Shepard took point as I stayed in the back of the group. I did not want to feel like everyone stare at me after what had just happened. Hell, I didn't know what happened myself. But whatever it was, it was having an effect on how I acted. I was being more brash and hostile since getting to this Universe or whatever the hell it was. I didn't like it, not one bit.

We stocked up on the door, and Shepard opened the door. I heard Fist yell his little spat about 'having to do it all himself' or something. Two turret came online. They were promptly put down by a hail of lead, mine mixed into the fray.

The sharp pain returned slightly. I pushed pass everyone and pulled Fist's gun from his hand similar to the workers moments before with my biotics. Then, surrounding him a the purple glow of dark energy, I sent Fist upwards and slammed him into the ceiling—hard enough that he would be feeling it for a bit. I let him fall roughly onto the couch below him. Laying my M16 on the table, I pulled my M1911 from my pocket and aimed it one-handed at his head.

"Quarian, where is she?" I asked calmly.

"Wha… What quar—" I hit him in the face with the bottom on the pistol grip before he could finish that lie.

My biotics came up without me trying. "Don't play dumb with me, you two-bit hood. You will tell me where she is. _**NOW!**_ "

"An alley close to here!" He practically squealed, pulling his arms closer to his head as he closed his eyes and looked away. "You got maybe a few minutes if you're fast enough, before Saren's men kill her."

"Hmph." I twirled the pistol by the trigger guard, sliding it into my pocket and grabbing my M16. "He's all your, Wrex."

I heard the deep chuckle from the krogan followed by pleading from Fist as I walked out. Couldn't help but smirk at the second part. That was followed by the sound of a shotgun going off. _Is it disturbing that I got some sort of satisfaction from that?_

Shepard caught up with me. "Ironwill—"

I cut her off with a quick look. "You can tear me a new one later. Right now, we have a quarian whose ass needs to be pulled out of the fire."

She didn't respond to that; probably understanding my point.

I led the way to the alley at a brisk jog. I switched the M16 to single shot as Tali came into view as Saren's rent-a-hood turian was trying to feel her up.

"No, way. The deal's off," Tali said, slapping the turian's hand away. Two salarians came up from behind the crates nearby in white armor.

Taking aim, I fired off one shot into the turian's head then firing at one of the salarians right after. Four shots took down his shields, then I put two into him to send him to the ground. Shepard came up next to me, bringing up her sniper and firing a round into the remaining guy.

Once she made sure it was clear of hostiles, Shepard approached Tali. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but that _bosh'et_ Fist set me up," she said. Only going off her body language, I could tell she was pissed.

A dark chuckle escaped my lips. "Don't worry. Fist is pushing up daisies."

The quarian tilted her head to the side a bit and blinked her glowing eyes from behind that visor of hers.

"He's dead. Fist is dead."

"Oh. Well, thanks for the help, but I do know how to handle myself in a fight. So, who are you?"

"I'm Commander Shepard," she said, taking a step forward. "We're looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor."

"Then I suppose I have a way to repay you for saving my life. But not here. We need to get someplace safe."

"The human embassy," I said, internally groaning at the thought of _Udina_. "Safe as any, and the human ambassador would probably want to see this."

"Good call, Ironwill. Let's move out."

…

 _I will not shoot Udina. I will not shoot Udina. I will not shoot Udina._

I'd recited that to myself for the entire trip to his office. Still was as we walked into his office and got a look at the arrogant bastard in person.

"You're not making my life easy, Shepard," he said with his back turned to us, making exaggerated hand gestures. "Firefights in the Wards. An all out assault on Chora's Den." He turned around. "Do you know how many-" He stopped as he saw the— _One_ … _two… three…—_ seven individuals that showed up. Three of them being aliens. All with some type of firearm.

 _I will not shoot Udina. I will not shoot Udina._

"Well," he adjusted a cuff on his futuristic suit nervously. "I see you brought some interesting associates. Why?"

Shepard got an amused and smug look on her face as she put her hands behind her back like those in the military did. "Making your day, Ambassador."

"Oh, and how's that?"

"The quarian has evidence that points to Saren being connected with the geth."

"Oh," he looked to Tali. "And you would be Miss…?"

"Tali," she said, "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"The ship you were born on, right?" I asked, more to just get a reaction out of her.

She turned to me, looking shocked… or surprised… or confused… Quarians are hard to read without seeing their faces.

"Yeah," she said, the surprise evident in her voice. "How did you know?"

"I research what I find interesting."

"You think my people are interesting?"

Udina made it a point to cough into his hand. "I think we shouldn't derail from the matter at hand. Now why did you leave the flotilla?"

I blocked out the conversation from there and waited for the evidence to be shown. Listening through this a fifth time would not be interesting.

"...then I disabled it and removed its memory core," I heard Tali say, bringing me out of my thoughts. A lot of them were to hurt Udina. _Seriously, what the fuck is up with me today?_

"I thought the geth fired their memory cores when they died. Some sort of defense mechanism." Oh, why hello there Keith David. I totally forgot Anderson was in there as well.

"My people created the geth. If you're quick, skilled, and lucky, small data caches can sometimes be saved. Most of the core was wiped clean, but I salvaged something from its audio banks." Shit, how did I miss Shepard asking how she got the geth core?

Tali activated her omni-tool and played the recording.

" _Eden Prime_ _proved_ _a major victory,_ " Saren's voice came through. " _The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit!_ "

"That's Saren's voice!" Anderson exclaimed, pointing at the omni-tool. "That proves he was involved in the attack."

"Wait!" Tali got our attention again, but I already knew what it was. "Saren's wasn't working alone." She continued the recording.

" _Eden Prime proved a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit!_ "

" _And one step closer to the return of the Reapers._ " Oh, hello there Benezia.

"I don't recognize the second voice," Udina said. "The one that talked about 'Reapers'."

Shepard rubbed the back of her neck, her face scrunching up a bit. "I feel like I've heard that name before."

And Tali with the explanation! Go! "According to the geth core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 thousand years ago. The Reapers hunted the protheans to total extinction and then they vanished! …At least that's what the geth believe."

"Sounds a little far-fetched."

 _Udina, I'm going to find a way to paint the walls of this room with your body, biotically._

I tilted my head to look at Shepard, not that I caught looks before. She looked like she came to a major realization. One I already knew.

"The vision I got back on Eden Prime, I understand it now," she said. "It showed the protheans being wiped out by the Reapers!"

I spoke up before Tali could. "So, I'm guessing the geth… what, see them as gods? The pinnacle of synthetic life? And apparently Saren knows away to bring them back?"

"Pretty much," Tali said.

"The Council is just going to love this," Udina muttered.

 _Not like they'll actually believe it until the Reapers come a-knocking on their front door. Stupid fucks._

"The Reapers obviously prove a great threat to every species in Council space, we have to tell them," Shepard said.

"No matter what they think of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor," Anderson pointed out.

 _They won't think much of the Reapers. Actually, they'll 'dismiss this claim'. Again, stupid fucks._

I turned and started toward the door. "Captain Anderson is right. We need to present that evidence to the Council immediately." _Not like I want to really deal with_ those _idiots._

…

 _God, I want to bitch slap that turian councilor._

We had just entered the Council Chambers to deliver the evidence.

 _Sure, they need a recording to believe Saren's a traitor, but when a two kilometer long squid-ship of death literally latches itself to the_ _fucking_ _Citadel_ _firing its red laser of death_ _it's gonna be all 'we have dismissed that claim'. For the third time today, stupid fucks… well, the asari councilor may have some brains. The salarian councilor just seems to… be there. And do not get me started on that turian fuck. …_ _Wow, why the hell have I been so hostile? I wasn't like this before._

Shepard approached Anderson, and the two climbed the steps to the upper part the of chambers—the former explaining that Udina was presenting Tali's recording already. The rest of us followed a bit further distance than we were before.

Udina finished showed them the recording and pointed at the Council. "You wanted prove, there it is."

"This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador," the turian councilor said. I knew his name, but the bastard doesn't deserve that courtesy. "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

The asari councilor, Tevos, turned to him. "I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren. Matriarch Benezia."

"Then she obviously is working with the geth too, you halfwits," I said, muttering the last word so only those next to me could hear. Shepard turned back to glare at me.

"Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic," Tevos continued, "and she has many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren."

"I'm more interested in the Reapers," the salarian councilor spoke. I actually did not know his name. _I apologize for that, you old fuck._ "What do you know about them?"

I started to tune out the meeting. I've heard it several times before this; I wasn't going to be ignorant of the situation. But speaking of that, my knowledge of what is could come could save many lives. Not immediately, but I could start by trying to save both Alenko and Williams. My first two playthroughs I saved her because in my first one I romanced her and in the second it was due to him barely doing much.

"Listen to what you are saying!" The turian councilor's voice brought me back to the moment. "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible! It has to be. Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we're found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we'd have found something?"

"Then what do you believe wiped out the protheans?" I countered, and probably was going to regret it because Shepard looked about ready to backhand me across the room. "The Reapers could have destroyed any evidence to their existence. Hide what they did and what they probably plan to do to the current species of the galaxy. If they wiped out the protheans, they probably are not stupid. Shepard here warned you about Saren's treachery, and you wouldn't listen. You may regret not listening to this."

"This is different," Tevos cut in as the turian councilor was going to most likely make a snark comment. "Shepard proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he's using the geth to search for the Conduit, but we don't really know why."

The salarian took the reins, then. "The Reapers are obviously just a myth. A convenient lie to cover Saren's true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the geth to his will."

"Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!" Shepard said, trying to add to the info that the Reapers are truly a threat. She was practically talking to a brick wall. _Actually, a brick wall would be easier to convince than these dumb-fucks._

"Saren is a rouge agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position," the turian councilor said.

"That is not enough!" Udina shouted. At least when it came to the good of humanity, he wasn't a complete prick. "You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!"

 _Please, the fleet of the Council races barely held their own against the geth and Sovereign. Hell, Sovereign might take it as a warm up. Besides, I think keeping the fleet here is the wisest choice. Not like my opinion would matter. The_ Normandy _will be going solo on the hunt_ _anyway_ _._

"A fleet would be overkill, Ambassador," I said. He went to respond but I cut him off. "And before you say that their fleet can hold back the geth _,_ it may trigger a war with the Terminus Systems." Turning so I was address both the Council and Udina, I continued. "A single, smaller ship would do better."

"As much as him butting in to this meeting has irritated me, he's right," Shepard said, take a step closer to the Council with a strong posture. "Send me!"

The Councilors all exchanged a look.

"No! It's too soon," the turian councilor exclaimed. "Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres!"

I grounded my teeth at that, the growingly familiar sharp pain rising as biotics flared as I marched to the edge of the platform. "If anyone human is ready to join the Spectres, it's goddamn Commander Shepard here! And don't start with any 'we're a naive species' bullshit. We are ready! _Shepard_ is ready. This is your best option to avoid a possible war and catch Saren!"

The chambers got quiet at my outburst, the Council themselves looking like they had just been slapped. It gave me some satisfaction. I smirked as the all nodded.

I relaxed, and gestured Shepard to take my place at the edge. "It's your show now."

She did so, standing tall and proud as the Council began to give the induction speech. People on the surrounding balconies leaned over for better looks, a look at history in the making. A look at the first human Spectre.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The empowerment of courage determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will."

"Spectres bare a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last lines of defense. The safety of the galaxy is their to uphold."

 _Meh, the speech was better with the epic music. Here it just feels awkward in the silence._

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species."

"Thank you," the Commander replied graciously. "You won't regret this decision."

After that, I kinda got bored as she was told what she was going to do. Go to the Traverse, find Saren, kill or capture him. Then she was informed that any leads with be send to Udina.

I went up to congratulate her as the meeting was adjourned. "Congrats, Shep-" I didn't see her hand coming as she smacked me upside the head. "Ow, what was that for?!"

"For speaking when you weren't suppose to," She said, glaring up at me since I looked to be a few inches taller than her. "You're lucky I need all the help I can get for this mission."

"So what? You're just going to slap me in the head repeatedly to make up for it."

"Yes."

"This is gonna be a painful mission, then."

…

 _ **A/N: Soooo… yeah. I don't have much to say. Hopefully I can get next chapter up soon after this. Maybe a week later, I don't know. Still going through stuff now. Life has been draining for me these last few months.**_

 _ **Anyway, reviews and all would be appreciated.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	4. Chapter 4 Get Over Here!

_**A/N: Uh… hi? Kept you waiting, huh? So, I can explain. The month of March was just a complete shitshow for me. It was just one bad thing after another. It was awful. I'll just leave it at that. It doesn't help it is nearing the end of my senior year either.**_

 _ **Oh! I also got**_ **Mass Effect Andromeda** ** _. I love the game. Sure, it's not the original three, but it's still good and fun. It has some issues, but not to the scale some people made it seem. I am thinking about maybe later down the line, maybe in the sequels, putting in the Ryder family as a cameo. What do you guys think? They won't be major characters, unless you would like that. What I have planned is quite flexible. But I have nearly 60 hours into the game now._**

 _ **So, I deeply apologize to those who have been waiting for this chapter, and I apologize again for the shortness of it. It is more to get things rolling along.**_

 _ **Also, to those that have viewed and all and waited for this, thank you.**_

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

…

The _Normandy_ was not ready to go yet. Something about getting the paperwork all situated. I guess Anderson needs to transfer command from him to Shepard more formally, and I guess that takes time. So, we didn't know what we were to do. Shepard took Williams and Wrex with her (such a lovely combo) to do some errands, AKA, side missions. Alenko and Tali went off… somewhere. Garrus and I actually went off somewhere. I asked him if he knew any armor shops on the Citadel. He gave me this chuckle and said "You'll love me after this."

Now, we were walking down a walkway on the Presidium to our destination. I was neck deep in my omni-tool. I was sketching out something on this draw pad app the thing came pre-installed with. I was thinking of some helmet designs. I had already decided that I wanted to wear one all the time when in armor. It had to be able to completely conceal my face. What I had in mind would be totally badass.

My turian buddy glanced over curiously. "What's that your drawing?"

My head perked up and I looked at him. "Does this shop owner make custom helmets?" I asked, semi-ignoring his question.

Garrus shrugged. "Last I remember, yeah. It has been a while since I saw him last though. He only recently set up his shop here."

I nodded, adding a bit more to the helmet sketch I was doing. "So, how did you meet this guy?"

"We met during our stint in the military. He was the armorer where we were stationed. Damn good one, too. I suppose that's how he got so good at what he does now. He even gave me my sniper rifle," he patted the weapon attached to his back, "a few years ago for my birthday. Couple of nice modifications were added to this. You'll like him if you like guns. Now, you still haven't answered my initial question."

"Oh, right. I'm drawing up helmet designs. I want to wear one all the time, so I figured I would get a custom one. Make sure it's something I will like if I'm gonna be using it all the time."

He gave an amused sort of sound. "Well, you better finish up, we're here."

I looked up and saw that we were indeed in front of a store. When Garrus said he recently set up, he wasn't kidding. The sign above the door wasn't complete. The front windows were filled with unpacked boxes instead of display items. Even the interior lighting was a bit dimmer than you would expect. I saved what I had down on the draw pad. It would be enough if this guy stands up to the high praise Garrus has for him.

When I stepped inside, it was like I was a kid and the shop was a candy store. The back half of the shop was set up. On the side wall were stands with full suits of armor. I counted at least ten sets on display, and that wasn't counting the chestplates on display behind the counter along with several kinds of guns ranging from Avenger rifles to Predator pistols and Katana shotguns. And behind the counter was a turian with dark red face paint wearing casual attire. He glanced up at the sound of us entering and his mandibles spread wide in what I assumed was a turian grin.

"Garrus!" He exclaimed in a cheery tone, coming from behind the counter and giving Garrus a large bear hug. "How ya doing, you bastard? Still got reach, eh?"

He seemed awkward as he parted with his friend. And I knew why. 'Reach and flexibility'. _Hehe_. "It's good to see you, Av. Av, this is Daniel Ironwill. Daniel, this is Avitus Celus."

"A pleasure," I said, shaking the outstretched hand, er... talon. _Damn, I had to start getting use to that._

"Same," he said, turning back to Garrus. "So, anything specific brings you here, or are just introducing new friends to old ones?"

"Actually, Daniel needs armor and weapons. We're part of the same crew now, hunting down Saren."

"Saren, huh? Good. That barefaced bastard deserves what's coming to him. As for the armor and all, just step this way." He made an exaggerated gestured towards the counter.

I did, approaching the counter as Avitus did something on the computer/register. Hell, I'll just call it a terminal. I raised an eyebrow as he narrowed his eyes after a few moments of typing.. "Something wrong?"

"Garrus said your name's Daniel Ironwill?" I nodded slowly. "Huh, it would seem a recent order I just finished was for you. Complete custom set of armor with a few extra trinkets on the side."

 _Someone already… purchased armor for me? This_ _was_ _as confusing as me having half a million credits._ _The surprises never cease..._

"I know I didn't order that," I said.

He shrugged. "Guess someone wanted to surprise you. I have it in back if you want it. I mean, who wouldn't? It's pretty much free for you."

"Uh, might as well. I won't have to spend as much as I thought originally."

"Gotcha, be right back."

He wasn't gone twenty seconds as he came back in with a fairly large metal case from one of the side rooms. Avitus set it on the counter and opened the case. A matte black set of armor with a dark red digital camo was inside. A dark red stripe went down each arm, going by the design on the shoulder-pads and bracers; I suspected the same went for the legs. On the chestplate, right where Shepard has her N7 logo, there was the number forty-seven in the same dark red along with a pistol holster going across the center diagonally. _That's my_ _favorite number…_ _hmm._

"Beautiful, isn't it," Avitus said, pride in his voice at the sight of his work. "The kinetic barriers are top of the line, too. There's a Phalanx pistol in here as well as a combat knife for the left shoulder sheathe. Oh, and you are going to love this."

He pulled the right bracer out and turned it over. There was a small box-like device on the underside with a type of hook at the end pointing towards the wrist.

"The hell is that?" I asked.

He smiled, or at least it looked like he did with the way his mandibles parted. "It's a grappling hook. My own design. Tech that I barely understand allows for two hundred feet of durable, flexible cable to be able to compact down to fit in here. I just got it down not two days before I got the order."

 _A fucking grappling hook?! I need to find who bought this and thank them, kiss them, then thank them again… I could use it as a whip! I am so going all Scorpion on some geth._

"I think I just found the greatest turian ever," I said quietly.

Garrus huffed from behind me. "I see you hold me in high regard."

"Hey! When you get me badass armor and gadgets, then you can complain. Or do anything awesome, but so far all I've seen you do is kill a few thugs."

"What would you consider awesome or badass? Taking a rocket to the face and surviving?"

I kept a blank face on the outside, but inside I was laughing my ass off. _Oh, Garrus… the irony in that question is FAR beyond you right now. Unless I can also stop that. Maybe give him a heads up about Sidonis._

"Sure, let's go with that," I said, looking back at Avitus. "Do you have any rooms that I could try all this on in?"

"Yeah, right over there," he said, pointing at a door to my right.

Going into the little hallway the door led to, I went into the first of three changing rooms and started putting on the armor. It was actually pretty easy, and it fit over my clothes except my hoodie. I put the M1911 in the holster on my chest, a perfect fit. The armor wasn't light armor, but it was lighter than medium; somewhere in between, leaning more towards medium armor though. The knife Avitus mentioned went into the shoulder sheathe on the back of my left shoulder. The weapon itself had a ring at the bottom of the hilt, giving me an idea how to easily get it out and ready. Two magnetic strips were on my back in typical _Mass Effect_ style, one on the back of my hip, and one right on the side of my upper right thigh. The Phalanx went perfectly there. My M16 would go on the right side of my back after I checked to make sure I could get it converted.

I walked back out, rolling my shoulders to get use to the feeling of the armor, and Garrus let out an impressed whistle. "Still at the top of your game, Av."

"What? You had doubts? I'm hurt, Garrus." Avitus placed a talon over his chest as he said this before turning to me. "So how you like it?"

I grinned. "I fuckin' love it! But now I have two things I want to bring up with you." I set the M16 on the counter. "Could you possibly get the internals of this thing up to a more modern standing while keeping the look?"

He looked the gun over a moment, talon tapping his chin. "I'm sure I can. The ammo block would have to be smaller than normal if you want to retain the same appearance and feel of the gun, but it wouldn't be by much. I could also make it the same look as your armor if you want." I nodded my consent. "Okay, then. What was this second thing?"

Bringing up my omni-tool, I showed him the sketches I made up of the helmet. "Could you try to built that?"

Avitus bristled. "Build it? Buddy, this will be the greatest helmet ever. Do you want it the same as the armor?"

"Kinda, just don't give it digital camo, and make the visor a blue color."

"Gotcha. So, my policy is half the money first, half when you get your product. Unless you want to just pay all now. That would be 50,000 credits for the gun modification and building the helmet. I'll also be throwing in something extra in both as well."

I thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I'll pay half now." Opening up my omni-tool again, I swiped it over a scanner, the 25,000 credits being taken out of my account.

"Great," he said with a grin. "This all should take three hours at most, one at the soonest. I suggest checking back in between."

Garrus and I shrugged, him saying, "Doesn't matter. The ship we'll be leaving on won't be ready to go for another four, at least."

"We'll probably find some place to eat. I haven't eaten anything most of the day," I said.

Avitus nodded. "Alright then! Oh, and Daniel? If you want to use the grappling hook, it is quite easy. It taps into your nervous system like an omni-tool. Just point, think, and it fires."

"Okay. Thanks."

We left the store after that, me leaving the armor case and hoodie there since I'll be back anyway. Garrus took me around to a restaurant that catered to amino and dextro-acid species then showed me around the Presidium some. The place was amazing. The game didn't do it justice. It was beautiful. But the looks I got being in full armor were funny. _Bitch, I'm with a Spectre now. You can't do shit about it!_

On our walk we got to talking about how to deal with Saren. He suggested a sniper round, hitting him before he ever knew. My input was that Saren deserves to get his face kicked in then tossed off a building, dropping a grenade after him just to be sure. Maybe several grenades. Actually, maybe a nuke. Yeah, a nuke sounds better, especially if he gets those cybernetic enhancements from Sovereign.

Once two hours were up, we headed back to Avitus' store. He said it would take three at most one one at least. Two was about in the middle. We were just down the street when a shady looking guy ran pass, nearly knocking me over. I felt that tingle in the back of my head as I glared up at him, but I quickly calmed myself.

"Someone! He got my purse!" An asari yelled from behind us.

 _Purse snatching? Cliche as hell. But…_

I glanced down at the grappling hook, then at Garrus, a smile coming to my face. I pointed it at the running thug. It was time to see it Avitus was right about how it works. Just point, think, and it fires.

So that's what happened.

The hook launched forward, wrapping around the thug.

I smirked as I said in my best Scorpion impression, "Get over here!"

I pulled back, using my biotics to add a bit more strength. The thug flew back towards me, into Garrus' awaiting fist. He hit the ground with a painful sounding thud, groaning. The asari ran over, picking up her purse as she kicked the bastard in the crotch, making him squeal. I chuckled at that.

"Thank you," she said to both of us before heading over to two approaching C-Sec officers.

Garrus looked at me as we walked on. "What was with what you said?"

I shook my head, smiling. "It was a game reference. You would have to play it to understand."

He left it at that as we walked into the store.

Avitus poked his head from behind the counter, smiling… I think. "Ah, you're back! You will be happy to know, Daniel, that you order is now complete."

"Then let's see what the maestro has constructed," I said, stopping at the counter and bracing my hands against its surface.

He ducked down behind the counter and came back up, placing my M16 on the top. I stared down in awe. "This baby now has a modern firing system. The custom paint job is as requested. I added a red dot sight, eliminating the previous iron sights for better field of view. A foregrip was placed under the barrel. I added full-auto to the select fire. Oh, and I also made the system a thermal clip system. Arms Companies are starting pushing for this design. I already made you custom clips in the shape of the previous magazine."

My jaw continued to hang open as I stumbled over my response. "I… you… this… this is amazing."

He grinned. "Oh, come on. We haven't even gotten to the main event." He ducked down behind the counter, coming back up with my helmet in talons.

Now, since I was a _Transformers_ fan, I based the design of the helmet of Optimus Prime's head in the fourth live-action movie. This thing also was a bit more angluar than Prime's head. The mask section was a dull silver with dark red on the side. The circular sections on the side of the helmet were the same dull silver. A blue, one-way visor in a chevron shape sat above the mask. The rest of the helmet was the matte black of my armor.

"And…," Avitus pressed a button on the side of it. The mask slid into the sides of the helmet. The visor moved up into the section that would go over my forehead, and that section then slid up. All of that would reveal my face if I was wearing it.

"The design, as requested." He extended it to me. "Here. Try it."

I did just that, putting it on and pressing the button to close it. The part slid over my face, but I was caught by surprise as the area from the top of my nostrils to the top of my forehead started getting this digitized hexagon shapes that filled in that entire area of my head. When it was done, I could see what was before me as if looking at a high quality live recording.

"Holy shit..."

"Saw the view screen come up, huh?"

I nodded slowly.

"Well, those buttons on the right side selects the different modes. From back to front, they are normal vision, night vision, and thermal vision. The visor can change color with the buttons below the one to close and open the helmet. Oh, and I added a choice changer for the fun of it."

I didn't reply, instead just paying for the other half of all this with an extra three thousand as a tip.

He looked at the screen confused. "Ah, Daniel, you gave me an extra three thousand credits."

"Consider it a tip."

Avitus widened his eyes. "Tha— thank you. That's the most generous thing a customer has done, ever."

"Well, you deserved it for the hard work you put in all of this. But, we should probably get going." I grabbed my improved M16, storing it on the right side of my back, and taking the armor case which was half filled with the custom designed thermal clips and my hoodie. "Don't want the Commander leaving us here. Take care, Avitus. I'll be sure to stop by a when ever possible."

Garrus said his farewell to his friend as well then we left. I got several awed or frightened looks by people as we called up a cab and took it to the _Normandy_ dock. I checked over my M16, slapping a thermal clip in and checking the grip, moving it to a more favorable spot. I opened my helmet and looked at Garrus.

"How much do you bet Shepard may shoot me while I'm wearing all of this at first sight?" I asked.

"Probably two hundred credits. You do look intimidating with the dark colors, shoulder knife, and the heavy pistol. The helmet actually looks pretty good when you have it closed," he said.

"Right." I closed the helmet and leaned back in the seat as the VI flew through the Citadel, a little fast, might I add.

…

 _ **A/N: So… yeah! How did you like that chapter? Now the helmet, in my mind it kinda looks like Optimus Prime's head from the fourth movie with a tiny bit of Arkham Knight's helmet from Batman Arkham Knight. I don't know. If anyone is good at drawing and would like to maybe draw some things up for that, be my guest and link me what you have.**_

 _ **Also, Avitus. No, I did not get the name from**_ **Mass Effect Andromeda** ** _. I had that name picked out for the character before_ Andromeda _was announced. But what did you think of Av? I liked him. I hope I was able to show him off as I wanted him. He will appear a few more times._**

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	5. Chapter 5 Mining Colony

_**A/N: IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT!**_

 _ **Did that get your attention? Good. Because if you don't read the author notes at the beginning and end of each chapter, you should. I ask questions for and about the story and hope for some feedback in reviews. So, that means you should review as well to let me know how I'm doing on the story so far.**_

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

…

Shepard had just finished talking with Anderson and, unfortunately, Udina. She was surprised that she was given command of the _Normandy_. And while politics annoyed her, it didn't feel right for Anderson to not be in command. She'll just have to roll with the punches though. It was something out of the realm of her control.

She turned to enter the airlock when a rapid transport cab landed nearby. The left passenger door opened and Garrus stepped out. The door on the other side opened and someone wearing matte black and dark red armor steeped out. She didn't recognize the person until she saw his antique weapons he had taken a liking to.

"Ironwill," she said in her commanding tone. "Report to my cabin after I address the crew. We need to have a discussion on today's events."

He sighed and nodded, the odd helmet concealing his face. Ironwill walked pass Garrus and her, carrying an armor case, into the airlock. Her and the turian followed. The decontamination cycle finished and Garrus and Ironwill walked deeper into the ship, she walked up to Joker.

"I heard what happened to Captain Anderson," Joker said as she stopped behind him. "Survives a hundred battles and gets taken out by backroom politics." He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Just watch your back, Commander. Things go wrong on this mission, your next on their chopping block."

"The turian bastard's out their somewhere. It is now our responsibility to take him down," she replied.

"Everyone's on this ship is behind you, Commander. One hundred percent. The intercom's open, if you've got anything you want to say to the crew, now's the time."

Shepard cleared her throat and leaned down so her voice was transmitted through the intercom clearly. "This is Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders. Find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie to you, crew. This mission isn't going to be easy. For too long our species has stood apart from the others. Now it's time for us to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy! Time to show them what we humans are made of. Our enemy knows we're coming. Wherever Saren goes, we'll follow. Wherever he searches for the Conduit, we'll be there. We will hunt him to the very ends of the galaxy, and bring. Him. Down! Humanity needs to do this. Not just for our own sake, but for the sake of every species in Citadel Space. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all… we will stop him!"

"Well said, Commander," Joker commented. "The captain would be proud."

"Sadly, Anderson is not in charge of this ship anymore. So for my first official order: Joker get this bird going."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

…

 _Eh, still was better with the epic music._

I was sitting against the back wall at the end of the rows of sleeping pods, holding my closed helmet in my hands. The ship looked bigger here than in the games, and I mean the outside. I heard that the exterior was smaller, but this Normandy is able to accommodate the interior and more.

Garrus, Wrex, and Williams came walking down the stairs and piled into the elevator. Moments later, Shepard came down. She didn't notice me until she was about to head into her cabin. She just gave me a look that said 'get in here, or I will drag you in'. Funny, considering she seems mostly paragon. Sighing, I set down my helmet on my armor case, leaving all my weapons there as well. I left my armor on for now.

I wasn't in her cabin five seconds before she Gibbs-slapped me in the head.

Rubbing the spot I was just hit, I said, "Damn, woman! Are your muscles made of metal. God damn!"

She glared at me. "What the hell was that all, back on the Citadel? Threatening those workers to skin them with your biotics, slamming Fist into the ceiling then hitting him with that pistol," she gestured to the M1911, "and speaking out of place during the Council meeting. What was all that?"

I closed my eyes, looking down as I took a breath. I looked back up at her. "I wish I knew."

"What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. I don't know. I have never gotten like that before. I have always been calm and shy. Then in the span of a day, I'm jumping out three-stories from a burning building, killing several people, the threats to those workers, what I did to Fist. I was never like that before I got shot. Hell, I panicked after I woke up and told the nurse and doctor to get out or I would have thrown them out the window! I just… I don't know what today was. Maybe getting shot and nearly dying fucked with my head. As I said, I don't know."

"Fine," Shepard replied after a short silence. "But I want you to speak with Doctor Chakwas in the med-bay before we get to Therum. I want to be sure nothing is wrong."

I nodded, then 'asked', "What's at Therum?"

"You know that asari Matriarch from the recording?" I nodded, although I already knew why we were going. "Well, her daughter is apparently some prothean expert. I want to know if she knows anything that could help us."

"When do we get boots on the ground?"

"About seven hours, so I suggest you check in with Chakwas then get some rest, get your gear in a locker."

I gave a dramatic salute, turning to leave but stopping cold as a thought came to me. It was very sudden. I wasn't sure where it came from exactly, but it made sense the more I thought about it and where I was and what I was gonna be doing. I twisted my body so I was looking at Shepard. "Ah, Commander?"

"Yes?"

"Could you… somehow get me into the Alliance? Skipping boot camp and all?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well, I ain't got anywhere to go after we take down Saren and no job. I figured I might as well put my combat skills to use, and I will get plenty of honing with this mission. Anyway, I've always thought about joining the military since I was a teen." That was true. I had thought about the idea of joining the military back home a few years ago.

Shepard looked down in thought before saying, "I'll see what I can do. Should be easy, though, given I'm a Spectre now."

"Thanks," I said before turning around and making my way to my gear. I wanted to get that put away then head to the med-bay.

…

"Ah, you must be Mr. Ironwill," Chakwas greeted me as I walked in, standing from her desk as she laid a data pad down.

"I'm really starting to hate being called that," I muttered under my breath, then spoke directly to the Doctor. "Yes, I am. And call me Daniel."

She nodded, moving to stand on the other side of a bed. "I suppose you came in here be checked on. Your gunshot wound should be checked on anyway." I was about to ask her how she knew when she continued. "And before you ask, the Commander sent me a message to be expecting you."

"Then that explains that." I sat on the edge of the bed. "So, what ya going to start with first?"

"Checking your wound would be a decent start. I'll need you to remove your shirt."

Thinking that was find by me, I took of my white shirt, my hoodie being in my locker. There was a patch of gauze taped to the spot I was shot. Chakwas came over to my right side and carefully peeled it off. I was lucky I wasn't a hairy person, or that would have hurt, or at least stung a bit. Anyway, the doc checked my shoulder/upper right chest with some sort of medical scanner. She nodded to herself as the thing beeped and she read the results.

"Good news is that the wound is nearly healed," she said. "Bad news is that a scar will remain there unless you get extensive removal due to the nature of the bullet that caused this."

I shrugged. "Ah, well I heard some ladies like scars."

A smirk came to her face. "Yes, I heard krogan women do admire scars."

"Are you saying I'm ugly, Doctor?" I asked, a small smile coming to my face.

She held her hands up. "You said it, not me."

"Let's just get on to the rest of this."

"Indeed. Lay back on the table, and you can put your shirt back on. I am going to be doing a full body scan. Should only take a few moments."

Chakwas pulled this… thing—it reminded me of something you would see in an automated factory but smaller—and placed it over my head as I laid down. She activated it and a blue light that covered the width of the bed started going over me. In about twenty seconds, the light shut off, and Chakwas placed the scanner back. She opened up her omni-tool, my guess was to go over the scan results.

"Hmm, interesting," she said, barely above a mutter as the med-bay doors opened.

"I highly doubt Ironwill could even manage that," Shepard said as she stood by the doctor's desk, a playful smirk on her face.

I gave an exasperated sigh as I sat up. "First Chakwas calls me ugly, now you are calling me boring. What's next? I smell?"

"You have been on the move a lot today."

"Hardy har." I looked to the doc. "So, give it to me straight. How long do I have?"

She just rolled her eyes. "Going by this, you should live a fairly long life, exempting unforeseen accidents. Also, this data seems to beg the question of what your past was like."

"My past?" I raised an eyebrow. _I have no past here._

"Yes." She walked over to be in a better position to have both Shepard and I in her view. "This shows that you have had some modifications done to your body. Bone weave, muscle weave, skin weave. Higher metabolism. There are a few other things that could be chalked up to you just above average functions, but those I listed are typically seen in soldiers that have received genemods."

"Soldiers?" Shepard and I questioned at the same time, glancing at each other afterward.

"The most interesting thing would be what is inside your head."

"And that would be…?" I asked, making a ' get on with it' gesture.

She looked back at the scans for a second then responded. "If this is correct, which I doubt it is, you have two biotic amps in your head."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Shepard said as she pushed off the desk. "How can he have two amps? Wouldn't that fire his brain?"

 _Oh that sounds lovely. Not._

"If done correct, no. But the amps in Daniel's head are one for adept abilities and the other for vanguard abilities."

Both of them then looked to me for answers.

"Okay," I said, putting my hands up, "I have no idea how the hell that happened, but I'm not going to complain. That could make me one of the strongest biotics. Ever."

"Possibly," Shepard said slowly, hand on her chin. "But I know nothing about any programs that allow the implanting of two different amps. It would have had to have been a secret project." She crossed her arms and looked at me. "Are you sure you don't know how this happened?"

"While I'm starting to ask the same questions, I can honestly say that I have no recollection of any project that would have done this. Perhaps memory lost. Or maybe they implanted false memories." _That would be unlikely. I remember everything from before I came here, nothing else before the time I woke up in the alley when I got here. My being here is just raising questions for myself. First the credits, then the armor, and now this. What the hell is causing this?_

Chills went down my back as I heard the giggling of the fuck who shot me in my head.

 _Is he some how the cause of this? How would he have been able to do this though? Ugh, more damned questions!_

I stood up from the medical bed and stretched my back a little. "Well, until I can either remember or find the people who worked on me, we'll just be in an endless loop of asking questions and pondering possibilities."

Shepard seemed to be digesting that as she looked down at the floor slightly. She finally nodded. "You have a point. Until either of those outcomes you mentioned happen, we'll just be driving ourselves insane."

"Yep," I turned to Chakwas. "Is there anything else?"

She shook her head. "No. He are in perfect health besides your nearly healed wound."

I left the med-bay with Shepard and sat in the mess hall to get something to eat. I was hungry. Didn't have anything to eat since leaving the hospital.

Taking a silver bag that had 'MRE' on the side in bold black lettering. I was about to sit down when Shepard got my attention.

"Um, you should grab a biotic portion MRE," she said. "You biotics need the extra calories due to all the effort biotics take.

I looked down at the bag in my hand before heading back and trading it in for a MRE that had 'Biotic Portion' printed in bright purple letters. "I sat down across from Shepard. "Thanks for telling me that."

"No problem."

We ate briefly and in silence before going to get some rest before Therum. That was going to be a fun mission. Maybe.

 _Hopefully I don't get caught in the mine collapse._

…

I slapped a thermal clip in my gun, snapping into place on the mag-strip on my back after. We were thirty minutes out from Therum now. Shepard was taking Wrex, Williams, Garrus, and me. I guess that made sense. Wrex and Williams for the heavy hitters, Garrus for tech, and me for my biotics. I just hoped the Mako could one: fit everyone we were taking, and two: that it wouldn't be a god awful experience. The Mako in the game was an annoying piece of shit. Felt like its controls were made for people with Parkinson's in mind.

" _ETA: twenty minutes,_ " Joker's voice came over the ship's intercom.

I grabbed my Phalanx out of my locker, twirling it around my finger then attaching it to my outer right thigh. Pulling my combat knife out, I slid that into the sheathe behind my left shoulder. Last I pulled out the M1911. My finger brushed along the golden inscribed letters of the word 'Prime'.

The elevator opening caused my to jerk my head up. Shepard walked out of it and towards the Mako. I placed the pistol in the holster along my chest. Grabbing a few extra thermal clips, I picked up my helmet from up top my locker and walked to the Mako. Climbing inside and sitting in the far right seat facing forward, I put on my helmet, pressing the button to make the parts in front of my face slid close. The view screen came online and the small pulse monitors in the upper left of the screen showed the vitals of everyone on this mission. I made sure to register everyone before we got into the same system as Therum.

Everyone else finished getting in then. Wrex sat across from me, Williams took up the guns, and Garrus sat in navigation next to Shepard.

 _Please, God, let her be a decent driver._

" _ETA: Five minutes!_ "

I began strapping myself in for the Mako drop at that.

" _Dropping in three… two… one. Good hunting, Commander!_ "

I held on to the straps running across my chest as the Mako _fell out of the sky_. At least the thing could take a punch, unlike the Hammerhead, catching on fire every two damn seconds. A fucking rock thrown from a toddler could have damaged that thing.

My body jerked forward as the tank hit the ground, the straps keeping me in my seat. I glanced up at Wrex who had an unamused expression. Undoing my straps, I checked the pulse of the others. Williams and Garrus had elevated levels. Shepard had a slight raise in her pulse. Wrex's pulse stayed the same as it did before the drop.

The Mako started rolling along.

 _Again, please let Shepard be a decent driver._

…

"Fuckin' Christ!" I exclaimed as Shepard swerved out of the way of a rocket. For the fourth time since coming out of the tunnel. "Goddamn, Shepard! Are you driving with one eye closed?!"

"Can it, Ironwill," she replied.

"I'm not the one who nearly flipped the tank earlier!"

"That could have happened to anyone!" She drove right over a geth, turning the tank sharply.

"It was a fuckin' five degree incline! How the fuck could anyone flip _a fucking tank_ on that?!"

"Would you like to drive?" A few more rockets flew over the Mako, Williams unloading on the senders.

I scoffed. "It would certainly be much safer!"

"Calm down, they're all dead."

I nearly fell out of my seat as the Mako jolted to the left. "You were saying, Commander?"

" _Now_ it's all clear." She turned back with a smile. "Happy, Ironwill?"

"Oh, I will be happy once you learn to either drive or hand the wheel over to someone else."

She ignored me as she continued along. Before long, we were reaching the little gap in the rocks that led to the dig site. Shepard ordered everyone out after trying to jump over the rocks with the boosters on the tank, almost flipping us again.

"Jesus, Shepard," I said, pulling my M16 off my back. "Did you get your license out of a damned cereal box?"

Deploying here sniper rifle, she said without missing a beat, "Actually, I never got my license."

I rolled my eyes. "That explains a lot."

"Shut it. Wrex, Ash, you two take point. Ironwill, you're in the middle while Garrus and I provide sniper support."

Nodding, we went through the gap and up the path. A round slammed into the ground by Williams' feet. I scrambled to cover as the others did the same. My biotics flared on their own as I pressed my back to the rock. Bullets flew over head as I heard return fire from the rest of the team.

 _Why the hell do I feel calm yet scared shitless by being fired at?_

Sighing, I brought my gun over the top of the rock right as a geth's flashlight head jerked back barely a second before the rest of it fell. I fired at a separate one off to the right. Three rounds hit off its shields before another burst ripped through its chest. Adjusting aim, I let loose three more bursts at a geth further away.

I jerked my head down as a geth sniper shot at the rock surface barely a foot away from my face. I ducked down fully as another shot wound have hit my head. I was sure my shields could have held, but my helmet would have been dented in, causing possible head trauma as well.

" _Ironwill, you're good,_ " Shepard called over the comms. Indeed, it was clear as all of the geth snipers were gone, leaving two geth units left.

Wrex let loose a lift at the thing, reaching for his shotgun as he did. Wanting to try out a theory, I formed a Warp in my hand and let it fly through the air. It connected with the synthetic, causing a large explosion of biotics.

 _Sweet, biotic combos work here. I am so going to use my biotics mor_ _e often._

Shepard fired off a round at the other geth one handed with her sniper rifle.

 _Looks, aim, and badassery; where the hell has she been all my life… ah, right, inside a damned video game!_

She glanced around a moment before starting down the slight slope, waving for us to follow. We did and got back into the formation she told us before the firefight. As we approached some structures, I mentally cursed.

 _Shit, the Colossus gets dropped off up ahead. It may go down easier with more people than in game, but that may just make it hard a fight._ _Fuck it! We'll just deal with it how ever when it arrives._

Shepard walked toward the area slowly, rifle ready, as the rest of us did the same. I 'just happened' to look up and saw the geth hopper. Not wasting the chance, I sent two bursts from my M16 into its body. It let out that synthetic howl of pain as geth did in the game and fell to the ground. The others quickly filled it with lead as the hopper tried to get onto on feet.

Shepard glanced back with a nod of approval. "Good spot, Ironwill."

A geth dropship flew over head then. Several geth jumped out of it and surveyed the area. Then came the Colossus. The damned thing made a loud bang, kicking up dust as it unfolded, its flashlight eye coming online like a beacon of death.

As the thing charged up some kind of pulse shot Shepard yelled for us to get to cover. I ran over to that large metal crate, raising an arm to keep the debris from the pulse blast from nailing me in the head. Figuring being able to shoot and use biotics at the same time, I threw the M16 on my back and readied my Phalanx while my biotics came it life around my left hand. I moved to the right edge of the crate, back to the crate. Turning a full 180 degrees, using my left foot as a pivot, I came out of cover and launched a Warp at the closest geth as I fired at a second. The Colossus turned its head at me and charged up its main gun. I barely dove back into cover as the thing fired at my previous spot. The shockwave from the blast sent me a few feet further than I wanted.

 _It's gonna be one of those fights._

A geth rounded the corner near where a landed, aiming its rifle at me. There was a loud boom as I went to raise my Phalanx, but the geth fell over with several new holes in its chest.

"I think you owe me one," Williams said from behind me. I got up to see her shotgun in her hands.

"Thanks," I said, cracking my neck. "Anymore?"

"Just that big bastard and two grunts."

I heard the sound of a pulse blast hitting the ground and rushed out from behind the crate to see Shepard trying to get back up, and the Colossus building up another pulse. I started running towards her as the pulse charge reached its zenith.

…

Shepard hit the ground hard as she barely got out of the way of the Colossus' pulse blast. She struggled to get back up, even as she heard it starting to charge another shot. Getting back to her feet, she looked up at the white tower of synthetic weaponry and knew she wouldn't have enough to to avoid the blast.

Just as the thing fired, Shepard was knocked out of the way by a streak of purplish-blue. She ended up face down on the ground and rolled over to see what had hit her. Standing over her was Ironwill, glowing with biotics. He had to of been glaring at the Colossus judging by his body language, and the thing even took a step back. She swore she saw flecks of red pop up in his biotics every now and again.

 _Maybe I got hit harder than I thought._

Ironwill deployed that grappling hook on his right forearm and swung it at the large geth platform. It wrapped around its 'neck' twice before the hook latched onto the cord. He was suddenly a blur of biotics and the next thing Shepard knew, Ironwill was in the air; the only thing keeping him from continuing in that direction being the hook around the Colossus. He did that biotic charge again, ending up on the things head. Using a Warp in his right hand to stay latched onto it, his left fist glowed bright with dark energy as he wound up for a punch.

"You die," he growled before sending his fist into the eye on the Colossus.

The geth tried shaking him off to no avail. Suddenly Ironwill ripped his fist clear of the geth, the damaged flashlight eye in his hand. Shepard watched on as he pulled a grenade off his belt and tossed it into the newly formed opening. Unlatching the grappling hook, he jumped off, landing in a roll. The Colossus' head exploded spectacularly as the grenade went off, the body toppling over.

Shepard blinked a few times, staring at the man. She couldn't believe that this was a civilian with no military background. He was simply full of surprises. And she couldn't deny that she was quite impressed.

Ironwill stood up and walked pass her.

"Thanks for the grenade, Commander," he said, grabbing his pistol from his thigh.

Her eyes jerked down to her belt and, indeed, one of her three grenades were missing. She looked back up at his back with a smirk.

 _Damn, he's pretty good._

…

Shepard held up a fist to signal us to stop. I could make a highly accurate guess as to what by the echoing of gunfire deeper in the mine. But there wasn't any fighting in the game beyond the geth versus Shepard and Co. Then again, the layout of this mine was also different.

 _Are there miners still in here?_

The Commander pulled her sniper off her back and walked on, at a pace that would keep her movements quiet. I did the same, as did the other three. We went down a branching tunnel and the gunfire grew increasingly louder. The tunnel opened up to a medium-sized cavern with mining equipment all over. Shepard crouched behind a metal box near the tunnel opening. Following her lead, the rest of us did the same.

At the other end of the cavern, a group of a dozen geth, including drones, were firing at an area of crates, boxes, and mining equipment. Return fire was being sent back at them.

"What's the call?" I asked as I crouch-walked next to Shepard. "Looks like it may be the miners."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," she said to me, then to the rest of the crew, "Okay, we fire on the geth. Watch your aim though. Don't want the miners taking one of our bullets."

With acknowledgment from everyone, Shepard lined up a shot and waited for the best moment to fire. I rolled my eyes as I slipped my combat knife out of its sheathe, pulling it out with my thumb through the ring at the bottom and spinning it until it was in a backwards grip. My biotics flared brightly around me. With a grin, I biotically charged one of the geth in the back of the group.

My knife was into the back of its neck at an angle that it pierced into the head. I used that geth as a shield and fired three shots at his buddy who was turning around next to him. As he went down, I pulled my knife out of the geth I was holding and crossed the short distance to the next with a biotic charge. My hand ripped through its chest as it still held the knife. Pulling my arm free, I threw the knife at the geth that started firing at me, blade going into its little flashlight eye. I charged back to the others as the rest of the geth began firing at me after I pulled my knife back to me with my biotics.

 _God, I love this move. It was my favorite in Mass Effect 2 and 3. Thank fuck I can do it here._

The remaining geth dropped quickly with the combined fire of Shepard's team and the miners. When the metaphorical dust settled, Shepard approached the group of miners. Actually, there was one individual that was… in… armor…

 _Holy Shit, it's Zaeed! How the hell is he hear?! He's not suppose to show up at all until Mass Effect 2! What the literally fuck?!_

I was thankful for the helmet right then. My open jaw would have been seen by everyone as I looked at the old mercenary.

"'Bout goddamn time some help showed up," Zaeed said as Shepard approached. "We've been stuck down here for a while. The last hour was just trying not to be found by those robotic bastards. So, who the hell are you?"

"I'm Commander Shepard. This is part of my team," Shepard said, gesturing to us. "We're here looking for a Doctor T'Soni. Have you seen her?"

Zaeed barked out a laugh, making the miners jump. "Seen her? She's the one who roped me into this mess. Was just supposed to be simple bodyguard duty. Something about thugs looking for something to sell. Yeah right. Got separated with her when the robots came in."

"Those 'robots' are geth," I informed him.

He looked over at a dead one and shrugged. "Been sometime since these thing have been out and about. Why though?"

"These geth are helping a rouge Spectre search for a possible prothean artifact," Shepard said. "We believe that the Doctor may be able to help."

"Well, I don't really give a damn about this anymore. Wasn't paid enough. If you want her so badly, there's an elevator close by. It'll take ya to the last place I saw her. Some goddamn prothean prison or something. I'll make sure I these miners get out safe."

We left Zaeed to lead the surviving miners out of the mine, and Shepard led the way to the elevator. As all of us got in, my mind was still boggled that Zaeed was here. The mine's layout was also a bit different. That boded one question: what else would be changed? Would it be little changes, or large ones? Hopefully, just little changes will be happening. I did not want to find out Sovereign brought some of his Reaper buddies.

I glanced around. _Huh, this area is now looking more like it did in the game._

I prepared for the elevator to stop and fall the rest of the way, but instead I was welcomed to the doors opening without incident.

 _Right, it's the next one that falls. Even playing the game, I always forgot that. Yet, I can remember Benezia calling Liara 'Little Wing'. Fascinating the way my head works… And I realize I'm talking with myself, that's great._ _My sanity is slowly waning. Like for fuck's sake, I practically have superpowers… oh my god, can I choke someone with my biotics?! If I can, I am so going Darth Vader on some fucks! All I would need is a lightsaber; I already have the intimidating armor down. Maybe Avitus can make an actual lightsaber or something close to it. Actually, an omni-blade is probably the closest thing to one… what was I saying about my sanity waning?_

The Commander stepped out and was shot at instantly, her barriers doing a great job at protection. She did a quarter turn, eye already looking down her sniper scope, and popped the geth drone that fired at her in a single fluid motion.

 _The hell? Was I placed in a universe with the woman of my dreams?_

A second drone flew up from over the far railing. It took two shots from my Phalanx to bring it down. I scanned the area, in case there were any extra surprises but found nor saw any. Twirling the heavy pistol by the trigger guard, I walked behind Shepard as she opened the next elevator. The view was nice, quite a contrast to the reddish-brown of the cave walls.

"This doesn't seem stable," I commented as the rest of the group team entered.

Wrex chuckled, which sounded like distant thunder. "What? You scared of half-assed construction?"

I rolled my eyes behind my helmet as Shepard started the elevator. "No. I would just prefer that my death not be caused by being inside a falling lift."

Wrex opened his mouth to reply, but the elevator squealed and shook. It then went sliding down at a faster pace as before, sparks flying from each of the corners. I struggled to keep my balance and nearly fell on my ass when the thing halted to a stop. Getting my bearings, I helped Williams up since she fell. Our resident krogan had this unamused look plastered on his face. Or maybe that's how his face always looked. It was hard to tell with him.

I hopped out of the elevator to the slanted bit of walkway that was half collapsed. My Phalanx was at the ready as I slid my combat knife into my hand. I stomped my foot on the section of walkway I was on to check the integrity. It was fairly stable so I waved the others to come on.

I dropped down to the lower walkway that would bring us to Liara. My landing got the attention of said asari because she started talking.

"Uh… hello? Can somebody help me? Please?" she called out, her voice having this echo-y, distorted sound to it from being inside the prothean prison cell, or whatever it was.

I walked up to the blue force field cautiously. I knew she was friendly, but I still had to put on a good show until I made up my mind if I wanted to tell people about how this was all a video game.

Shepard came up next to me, slowly storing her rifle on her back. She looked at the force field and the floating asari with a raise eyebrow.

"Can you hear me out there?" Liara asked. "I'm trapped. I need help."

I let at an amused snort. "Well that is quite obvious."

Shepard looked back to glare at me before giving her attention to Liara. "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

Liara gave a short, deep breath—if that makes sense. "Listen. This thing I'm in is a prothean security device. I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it, alright?"

I walked up to the metal plating around the field, a Warp building in my right hand after holstering the Phalanx. Placing my hand on the surface, I let it sit there a couple seconds for the warp to eat away at the metal. Pulling my hand back… there was no change.

"Fuck," I muttered.

"This is a prothean barrier curtain. I knew it would keep me safe from the geth, no matter what method they tried, biotics included. When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out. Please!"

I held up a hand to and gestured her to calm down. "Okay, miss. Just stay calm. We'll find a way to get you out. But knowing her," I jabbed a thumb in Shepard's direction, "it will probably involve bringing half the mine down."

Liara paled as I said that. "That is not a comforting thought."

Shepard Gibbs-slapped me in the head then, looking at Liara after. "Don't worry, we'll get you out."

The young asari glanced over at the panel inside with her. "There is a control in here that should deactivate this thing. You'll have to find some way past the barrier curtain. That's the tricky part. The defenses cannot be shut off from the outside. I don't know how you'll get in here. Be careful, there is a krogan with the geth. They have been trying different ways to get past the barrier."

Wrex scoffed. "If he's working for Saren, we'll put him down."

Shepard spun on her heels, getting her sniper ready. She went down the path you would take in the game to the mining laser. I spotted a geth shock trooper down below as Shepard turned onto the ramp leading down. With a smirk, my biotics flared. The next thing I knew, I was right in front of the geth with my knife in its flashlight eye.

The geth behind him was filled with four bullets from my Phalanx. I charged a third, leaving my knife and grabbing it by the head with a Warp in my hand. After its head was destroyed, I whipped the last one with the grappling hook. Channeling my biotics down the cord, I lowered the things mass and flung it towards the others. It was shot out of the air by Wrex's shotgun.

Bringing my knife back to my hand, I approached the others.

"Sorry, to take most of the—"

I was cut off as Shepard raised her rifle and fired a round past my head. My reaction was to get down in a crouch and level my pistol at her.

"Fuckin' hell! Fine! I won't take anymore kills!"

She just smirked. "Ya missed one."

Turning around, there was indeed a geth unit in the far back of the mine that Shepard nailed right in its little eye.

I got up, rubbing the back of my neck and chuckling weakly. "Riiiight. I so did not think you were shooting at me."

She just rolled her eyes and went up to the mining laser control, the other chuckling. Shepard's hand hovered over the controls, about to finally just press a button on random when Garrus stepped up next to her.

"No offense, Shepard, but I think I should handle that," he said. "We want to free that asari, not vaporize her."

The Commander looked from the controls, to him, then back at the controls. She nodded, taking a few steps back. "That's probably wise."

Garrus had the thing turned on within ten seconds, the angry red beam slamming into the rock underneath those prothean cell things. Dust was kicked up enough that I had to turn thermal vision on to see the others clearly. I turned it off when everything settled.

Not saying a word, Shepard took off at a brisk jog toward the hole in the ground, leading to the tunnel/hallway that would take us to an elevator which will take us to Liara. I spun my knife around my index finger by that ring at the bottom, the elevator going up.

When it stopped, I walked ahead of everyone else, a mischievous smile hidden behind my helmet. I walked up to the barrier controls silently, my finger hovering just over the release.

"Three, two, one. Drop!" I pressed the button.

"Wait, wha-" The barrier dissipated, and Liara fell to her knees, being cut off mid-sentence.

To atone for that though, I helped her up, opening my helmet and offering a smile.

"Let's get you out of her before more geth show up," I said. "I bet you've seen enough of them for a couple asari lifetimes."

She shook her head but nodded. "Yes, I suppose you are right."

"Ah, Commander?" Williams spoke up from behind us. "Are you sure we can trust her? I mean her mother is working with Saren."

Liara's head jerked to her. "I am not my mother! I… I don't even know why she's with Saren. I want nothing to do with that turian bastard."

Shepard nodded. "I trust her. The geth wouldn't be trying to get her if she was with Saren."

"Then come on," I said, making sure Liara was steady first. "That platform back there looks like an elevator. I hope it's one. Our way back up kinda broke."

Piling on, Shepard activated the slow thing. I closed my helmet then grabbing my Phalanx and knife. That dumbass krogan battlemaster at the top would be difficult, maybe. Liara talked to Shepard as we went up, asking about Zaeed and the miners and why we came. Typical stuff really. Then everything started shaking.

"The ruins are unstable. That mining laser must have caused a seismic event," Liara said, glancing around at the walls. "This place is caving in on itself."

Shepard pressed a finger to her earpiece, opening a comm to the _Normandy_. "Joker, get the Normandy in the air and locked onto my signal! On the double, mister!"

" _Aye, aye, Commander. En-route now. ETA: eight minutes,_ " came the response from Joker.

"If I die in here, I'll kill him!" Wrex and I growled in unison, glaring upwards. We shared a look, his scaly mouth pulling up into a smirk.

The elevator continued to ascend, the place shaking every now and again. As it reached the top, I spotted the battlemaster and geth, crossing my arms. "Oh, this has to be good."

"Surrender…," the krogan chuckled. "Or not. More fun that way."

Shepard groaned from next to me. "Are you serious? This place is coming down, and you want to fight?"

"Saren wants the asari, and he usually gets what he wants."

I rolled my eyes, my biotics flaring. Leaning forward a bit on my left foot, they glowed slightly more. With a smirk, I charged forward, ending up in front of the battlemaster in a blink of an eye. I jabbed the tip of my knife right under the edge of his browplate. His eyes widened as he let out a gasp of shock and horror. The geth raised their weapons at me but didn't fire.

"Do you value life?" I asked, leaning in closer.

He nodded the tiniest amount he could.

"Then I suggest you and your rejected factory machines leave. Or don't. _More fun that way._ " I pushed down on my knife enough for panic to show in his large eyes.

"O-o-okay," he said. "Just leave the plate alone."

I pretended to ponder that before looking him dead in the eyes. "I've had the worst week of my fuckin' life. I'm going to kill you, regardless of your choice."

At that, I popped his browplate off with a sickening ripping sound. The krogan let out a horrible cry of pain as I did. After firing two rounds at his exposed skull, killing him, I charge back to the others as the geth started shooting. I caught Wrex glaring at me in my peripheral vision as I threw a warp.

 _Yeah, maybe popping that battlemaster's plate off in the presence of Wrex wasn't such a good idea. But I guaranty it looked badass._

Shepard blew a hole in the last geth's head, ending the fight. The place shook violently, the barriers blocking the way deactivating. Shepard issued one loud and obvious order.

"Run!"

I stayed the furthest in the back, making sure everyone would make it out. Dust rose, chucks of rock fell, and we ran for our lives. The path began to deviate from the game as we ran up a long tunnel carved to the surface. It was the closest exit, and we took it. I felt small rocks hit against my back as I ran, dust appearing in the edge of my vision. My heart sank as I saw one large boulder block half of the exit, the other side looking about to cave in. With my biotics coming to life, I built up a shockwave and let it go. It connected with the team sending them clear out the cave. Chucks of the ceiling fell near me. Praying to whatever the fuck I believed in, I glowed brighter and charge. Not caring for landings, I fell right on my chest, making it out just as the thing caved in entirely, dust spewing out.

I rolled over, propping myself up with my elbows, chuckling at the close call.

 _What a first mission, eh?_

…

" _Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulfur. The_ Normandy _isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to_ fry _our sensors and_ melt _our hull_. _Just for future reference,_ " Joker said over the intercom as the entire ground team sat in the conference room. I couldn't help by smirk from behind my hood.

After barely getting out of the fucking ruins, we picked up the Mako and left the planet. Shepard ordered us to get change and meet in the room we were in at the moment. I didn't have any clothes besides the ones I came on with, so I just stored my armor and threw on my hoodie, sliding my pocket knife in my right pants pocket as I entered the elevator. I was now sitting in the closest seat to the door.

Liara gave the Commander a look that said 'really'. "We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?"

"I think it's to overcompensate," I said flatly, leaning back in my chair. That earned a few chuckles all around.

" _You know I can still here you, right?_ "

"I was hoping you would, flyboy."

Liara had a thoughtful look as she look at the ground. "I see… must be a human thing." She turned to Shepard. "I don't have a lot of experience dealing with other species, Commander. But I am grateful to you and your crew. You saved my life back there. And not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."

"But that still leaves the question of why Saren wanted you," Tali said. "Do you know something about this 'Conduit'?"

"Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

"I think the Commander here can help with that," I said, crossing my arms over my chest in an almost bored manner. "She kinda had a prothean vision or something seared into her brain, from what I've heard."

Liara went wide-eyed at that. "You have a vision? One from a beacon?"

Shepard nodded. "Yes."

"Oh my. Whatever you have could possibly help my theory."

"Theory?"

"Yes, I believe that the protheans were not the first species to mysteriously vanish. Over the years, I have found evidence that points to some kind of cycle."

"A cycle?" Garrus questioned as he leaned forward in his seat.

"From what I have gathered from collecting every possible shred of evidence over the years, yes. This cycles has repeated itself many times over. My findings showed that each time a great civilization rose up, it was suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive, barely. The galaxy is almost built upon a cycle of extinction. The protheans rose from a single world, expanding their empire until it spanned the entire galaxy. Yet, even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements—the mass relays and the Citadel—are based on the technology of those who came before them." She took a short breath before continuing. "And once they reached their highest, they too were wiped out like those civilizations before them. I have dedicated my life to finding out why."

"They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers." Shepard spoke as if she already knew the full extent of what they were capable of, with great gravity of the threat. She had no idea.

"This information came from the beacon?"

"As Ironwill said, a damaged prothean beacon burned a vision into my head. I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

I tuned out the conversation, already bored. My mind wasn't made up yet if I wanted to spill everything I knew, save everyone a headache. At the same time, I was a bit scared to. The butterfly effect might take hold and change things to the point that the galaxy gets royally fucked. But that could also be a load of shit too.

Liara nearly teetered to the side brought me back to everything else. On instinct, I was up out of my chair and ready to help her. She waved me off with a nod showing she appreciated the gesture.

"When was the last time you ate? Or slept?" Kaidan asked with genuine sounding concern. "You should have Doctor Chakwas take a look at you."

Liara said something about mental exhaustion and the protheans true fate, but my mind remembering that Shepard contacts the Council.

 _If I can stay in here, I am soooo hanging up on those idiots._

"…The rest of you, dismissed."

I blinked, realizing I missed a lot more than intended. As Joker announced reports being filed and asking if Shepard wanted to be patched to to the Council, I turned to Shepard as everyone else left.

"Patch them through, Joker."

" _Setting up the link now, Commander._ "

"Hey, Commander?" I asked, not realizing I was taking a military-like stance with my hands behind my back and my feet shoulder width apart.

"Make it quick, Ironwill," she said. "I don't want to keep the Council waiting."

"I was wondering if I could stay for this call."

She looked my up and down, trying to figure out why I was asking. Finally, she sighed and nodded. "You most likely saved all our lives down there with that shockwave. I'll grant this request." She turned around, pausing at hitting the button to open the line, then looked back. "Thanks for that, by the way."

I let a small smile come to my face as I nodded and stood just to the side of Shepard as the three alien councilors fizzled into view. I stayed like that throughout the short call until the turian councilor asked if destroying the ruins was necessary in a way that made me want to punch his lights out.

Before Shepard spoke up, I did first.

"Yes, it was, _councilor_ ," I said, adding just enough bite to the title as I could. "Unless you wanted a dead Spectre along with her ground team."

The bastard scoffed—scoffed!—at me. "I remember you. The human with the large mouth. I don't remember civilians taking-"

I stomped up to the panel and glared at the turian while also having a fake-ass smile on my face before he finished taking.

"Have a good day, councilor." I slammed my fist down on the button to disconnect. That was promptly followed by a Gibbs-slap by Shepard. I rubbed the back of my head as I said, "Worth it."

 _ **A/N: So, Therum is done. I hoped you enjoyed. This is the longest chapter yet, at over 8000 words. I liked it. I think it is my best chapter so far.**_

 _ **Let me know what you thought in the reviews.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	6. Chapter 6 Crew Talk and Side Mission

_**A/N: So, this chapter is gonna be pretty relaxed. Not much else to say. Actually, some dates are changed. You'll understand when you read.**_

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

…

With a satisfied smirk after handing up on the Council—well, mostly just the turian—I retreated to the spot I first sat at when I came on the ship. My hood was up as I had my head down. I was thinking over the mission we got back from not even an hour ago. Zaeed being there may or may not cause problems in the future. But my anger spiking will most likely be. I felt the hot tingle in the back of my head after I got Shepard out of the way of the Colossus pulse; it only going away after I brutally ripped out its eye and tossed a grenade in the hole. It happened again with the battlemaster. I didn't really feel it, but it had to be to cause to why I killed him without giving him a chance to leave…

 _What am I turning in to…?_

My stomach rumbled, and I took that as a cue to get something to eat. With having biotics and using them a decent amount of Therum, I felt tired as well. Not as much as I thought I should but still tired.

Getting up, I approached where the MREs are kept but stopped five feet away. I looked at the cabinet, my hand, then back again. Smirking, my biotics glowed around my hand as I stayed still and opened the cabinet. It came open faster than I would have wanted it to, causing Alenko to look over from his usual spot. I shrugged and proceded to pull out a biotic portion MRE. It came right to my waiting hand.

 _I am so not getting up for anything ever again! Everything will be pulled over to me by biotics._

I sat down at the back table closest to the divider wall, sitting with my back to the wall. I ripped open the silver package.

 _Two ham sandwiches, an apple, a cheap thing a vanilla pudding, and a bottle of water. While everything sure as hell isn't top quality, at least it isn't horrible looking. Thank God military food got somewhat better in the future._

I ate at my usual slow pace that came over with me. I always ate slow, being the last one to finish eating lunch at school with friends, and they usually ate more than me. Anyway, when I was done I tossed the trash away having eaten both sandwiches, pudding, and half of the apple. I kept the half bottle of water with me, stuffing it in my hoodie pocket.

Alenko stood at his terminal. Debating for a moment if I should bother him, I walked over. He wasn't a bad character in the games, seemed like a pretty chill guy. But he was just… average. That is probably why no one really liked him. Same went with Jacob in _Mass Effect 2_.

I stood behind him and cleared my throat, taking up the casual military stance I had the habit of doing. "Lieutenant Alenko, right?"

He turned around, knowing I was still in the mess hall. "Yeah. You're that Daniel Ironwill we brought aboard?"

"Yeah." I looked over at his terminal quickly. "Am I bothering you from anything?"

"No," he shook his head, leaning back a bit on the wall, "nothing important. What's up?"

"I just wanted to get to know the people I would be working with for the coming weeks. If I'm going to be trusting you to have my back, and vise-versa, I might as well get talking to those people."

"Not a bad logic."

"So," I let my hood down, "what's your opinion on the aliens the Commander picked up?"

Alenko took a second to think on that question. "They seem like an okay group; the krogan might be a problem thought. Then again, when are they not." He chuckled "What about you?"

"They seem trustworthy. The quarian naturally does things for others, life on ships for centuries and all. The turian wants to see Saren pay for the disgrace he's putting on his kind. That asari doctor just seems too innocent and kind to do anything wrong. And that krogan is in it for a good fight." I did my best to make it seem like I didn't know them all; made it seem like I was just going off what little I've been around them.

The LT nodded his acceptance to my words. "Yeah, that seems about right."

"Now this mission…" I trailed off, letting him gather what I was thinking.

"As I told the Commander, Saren is looking to apparently cause galactic extinction, but the Council isn't doing much. This is something that should have more than one ship and her crew do. The galaxy is a large place, and the risks are too high. But I faith in the Commander. She'll do the job right."

"I share the same sentiment," I took one of the seats by his terminal. He took the other. "Shepard is a capable soldier, but the Council are idiots. They won't take necessary action until it's too late. Fuckin' dumbasses."

"No arguments there."

We sat there for a few moments as I tired think of what to talk about next. I didn't what to waste all the info I knew in one conversation, but I also wanted to see how more human he could be without the restrictions of predetermined dialogue. Finally, I sat up.

"Well, this have been fun, Lieutenant. I'll make sure to stop by another time."

"Sure. And call me Kaidan."

"As long as you call me Daniel and not 'Mr. Ironwill'. I swear, I've heard that enough times in the past week that I'm starting to hate hearing it."

He chuckled as he went back to his terminal. "I feel ya. Later."

I nodded, making my way to the elevator and taking it down to the cargo bay. I threw up my hood again as it made its _very_ slow ride down.

 _Loading screens in disguise, ha! Bullshit. These things are slow in real life as well._ _Fuckin' hell._

The doors opened as it finally made it to my desired destination. I was going to got talk to Tali since I have had the least amount of interaction when a deep, rumbling voice called out.

"Human! Get over here."

Looking over my shoulder, Wrex was standing with his arms crossed over his red armor and glaring at me. Not wanting to be intimidated, I turned around and stood arm distance away in the casual military stance.

"Krogan," I greeted neutrally, showing that if he wasn't going to call me by my name, I sure as hell wasn't going to give him that luxury either.

Despite standing were I was, Wrex closed the distance and jabbed a large finger into my chest. "Back on Therum, where did you learn to do that?" His voice held anger that might have been borderline rage.

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific." I knew what he was talking about, though. I just wanted to feign ignorance.

"With the battlemaster, you pyjak! How did you know to go for the plate?"

"Oh, that? That was just on instinct."

He narrowed his eyes and leaned in closer. "Ripping the plate off a krogan is a coward tactic. It is a humiliation to the krogan having his plate ripped off. Don't let me find out about you doing it again, or you won't survive very long after."

My hand balled up at his threat, that hot tingle I've felt several times already starting to rise. I could tell my body wanted to flare my biotics; my nerves tingled as I kept them in check. Instead, I reared back my head and slammed it into Wrex's, causing the krogan to take a couple steps back out of shock. I took a couple steps back out of pain. I felt a bit of blood on my forehead.

At first Wrex looked about ready to rip my limbs off Chewbacca style, but then a large grin came across his face as he let a rumbling laugh that echoed through the cargo bay. Garrus and Williams, who were watching with nervousness, relaxed a bit.

"You have a quad on you, human!" Wrex said as he slapped my back. "I like those who don't take shit from others."

"My name's Daniel," I replied flatly.

"Right, Daniel… at least you're not as weak as you look." He narrowed his eyes again. "But if you rip another plate off while I'm around, I will kill you."

"Duly noted."

Wrex broke out in another laugh. "I can tell we are going to get along well, Daniel."

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled, getting back in the elevator and taking up to the mess hall. I need to get my head checked out.

…

"Headbutting a krogan, Daniel?" Chakwas asked incredulously as she gave me an ice pack for my head, which I gladly took. "What in the world made you do such a thing?"

"Badass points?" I asked sheepishly, wincing as I placed the ice to my head.

She rolled her eyes as she checked over the scan she took of my head. "Well, thankfully there isn't any trauma, but please don't do this again in the future. You risk brain damage in the field enough as is."

I chuckled. "What ever do you mean, doctor?"

"I heard about what you did to that geth Colossus."

"Again, badass points."

"Just leave before I sedate you to eliminate having to check for injuries again, because I somehow feel you'll hurt yourself again soon."

I shook my head slowly as I got up off the bed and left. For a second go, I went back down to the cargo bay to head to engineering. Just had to make sure to hide the ice pack from Wrex. Didn't want him to think I was weak. I would never hear the end of it. Luckily, he was storing something in his locker, so I was able to make it into engineering without notice.

The hum of the drive core was what I noticed when I first made it pass the door. Next was the core itself. It was an impressive sight. The purplish-blue of eezo as it seemingly vibrated around the sphere gave off this calming feeling. It was almost hypnotizing. I didn't even notice I made it to the railing until I heard Tali next to me.

"You're Daniel, right?" Everyone's favorite shotgun wielding quarian asked me, snapping me out of it.

I shook my head a bit and blinked. "Yeah, that's me. You're Tali, if I remember correctly."

"Yes." _Damn, did she sound this shy in game?_ "What brings you to the drive core?"

I gave a friendly smile. "You, actually."

"Oh." She made it seem like it was a big surprise that someone wanted to speak to her. She's so damn nervous and shy, but in an adorable way. "What for?"

I shrugged. "Eh, I just want to get to know the crew of the ship a bit. We are gonna be serving on this tub for a while hunting Saren, most likely. It would be best to get to know everyone. I have already talked to Lieutenant Alenko earlier. Even with Wrex." I pointed to my bruised and cut forehead.

" _Keelah_ , he did that?"

"Nope," I said casually, the 'P' being said with a pop sound. "The big bastard got in my face, threatened me. He was within range, so I slammed my head into his."

Tali's glowing white eyes widened in an almost comical manner from behind her visor. " _THAT_ was what that thump was?"

"I guess so."

She just shook her head. "You are one crazy human, Daniel."

I smirked. "Huh, that is basically the second time I've been told something like that. But anyway, we are going away from my original purpose for coming down here." I turned around and leaned against the railing, arms crossed over my chest. "So, tell me about yourself, Tali."

She started to glance around a bit and began doing that little hand wringing thing she did in the games when she got nervous. "I… I'm not sure what to talk about."

"How about you start with that quarian thing? A pilgrimage?"

"Okay… uh, when a quarian comes ogf age, they are sent out into the galaxy to explore."

"Sounds fun."

"Most times, yes. We go to prove we are valuable to the fleet. We could spend years until we find something we think is worthy. Be it new hardware or data, anything that will help. When we do return, we are chosen to officially to be part of a crew on one of the ships in the flotilla."

There was a certain pride in her voice as she talked. Tali really cared about her people, and someone taking an interest in the quarian race was probably something that was not all that common. It was a shame the galaxy as a whole saw them as thieves and vagrants.

"That's really interesting, Tali. What do you hope to bring back to the flotilla?"

"Something to help my people against the geth," she said instantly. "I want my people to retake our homeworld one day."

I nodded in understanding. "That's right. The geth practically kicked the quarians off your planet."

"Yes. But we will take it back, but first we need to stop Saren."

"You're right." Not sure how to continue the conversation, and wanting to keep more info for future talks, I decided to get going. "It's been fun talking, Tali, but I'm gonna let you be for now. See ya later."

"Right. See ya."

I walked out engineering and was about to make my way to Williams to chat when the elevator door opened and Shepard stepped out and looked right at me.

"Ironwill, I was looking for you," she said.

"Oh?" That surprised me. Just about two hours ago she was slapping me in the head and giving me a death glare for hanging up on the Council. _Still worth it._

"Yeah. Come up with me, it'll make what I have to do after easier."

Somewhat reluctantly, I obliged and entered the elevator with her. She took one side while I took the other. It was an awkward silence that followed. I was trying not to stare at her body, and I guess she didn't want to look over because she was still pissed at me. Not the most pleasant elevator rides I've experienced. It was a blessing when the door opened up again.

I followed Shepard into her cabin. The door shut behind me as she turned around.

"You still want to go through with joining the Alliance Marines?" she asked.

After a quick moment's thought, I replied. "Yes."

"You'll have to follow orders and stop being an ass. I'll officially be your superior. Sure you're up for that?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, taking up a casual military stance to prove a point.

She smirked, and a slight fear came to me. "You'll have to do whatever I order you to."

 _Fuck. I can't back out; she obviously has got that request basically done. I'll have to try to not be insubordinate._

"I understand that, Shepard."

She nodded, turning to her terminal. "Okay then. I'll reply to Captain Anderson telling him to push the request through to Alliance brass. Within the next day or two, you'll be a part of the Alliance." Her face took a more serious look. "Got one chance to change you're mind if you want."

The Commander was making sure I wouldn't regret my decision. I appreciated that.

"Shepard, you saw how I performed on Therum. I… actually enjoyed the thrill of fighting. This is something I think I will be good at. I mean, I was able to save your life. Twice."

She looked down after that. I tried to get a read on her expression but couldn't really. Was that… nervousness? No. Awkwardness? And… _okay, the way she just bit her lip was sexy and cute at the same time. Damn, stop it brain!_

"Okay," she said in more relaxed tone. "I'll send the message. You're free to go."

I cleared my throat. Might as well knock out the one crew member whose past is somewhat unknown to me. "Actually, Commander, I've been going around talking to some crew to get a better understanding of who they are. Do you mind if we talk now?"

She shook her head. "No. Sit." She pointed over to a chair by the little table.

I sat down in a chair, turning it so it was facing Shepard while she sat on the edge of her bed.

"What do you want to know?" She asked, crossing one leg over the other.

"Well, I heard you did something pretty damn notable. I'm not sure what that is though," I said.

 _Now time to see if she went through Elysium, Torfan, or Akuze._

"Have you heard of the Skyllian Blitz?" I nodded. _That answers that._ "Well, I was on Elysium for shore leave when it happened. I was just some Alliance corporal with only two years in the Marines." She looked down then. She sounded… I wasn't sure. "I saved the colony, basically."

"You make it seem like that is something simple," I remarked.

"Yeah, well, while that earned me the title of hero, it really is something I don't like to talk about much."

"I'm sorry for asking then," I said softly. "I didn't mean to bring it up if you didn't want to talk about it."

"No, you're fine, Ironwill, she said, clearing her voice to sound more like herself. Anyway… I received the Star of Terra for my actions. They even wanted me to take part in the retaliatory strike on Torfan. Anderson pulled some strings to allow me my much need break."

I nodded slowly, then I realized something she said. "You said you had been in the Alliance for two years? How old were you when it happened?"

"Twenty, I'm twenty-seven now. Why?"

"Huh, I thought you were older."

Her eyes narrowed. "You know I can order you to clean the bathrooms with a toothbrush, and you'll have to follow it."

I held up my hands. "I was more talking about your rank. Going by appearance, I would have pegged you for being twenty-four."

 _Although, I'm pretty sure Shepard was twenty-nine or thirty in the first game._

A smirk came to her face. "Have you been eying me up, Ironwill?"

I let out a nervous chuckle, pulling my hood down a bit more as I deliberately looked away from her. "No…"

"Uh-huh." She clearly was convinced. Not.

Deciding to change the subject quickly, I asked, "So, what's our next stop?"

The Commander rolled her eyes at the obvious attempt to distract her from that but answered anyway. "We're taking a detour to Edolus. Admiral Kahoku asked me to check on something. His team went missing not long ago while investigating a distress beacon. We should be there in about an hour."

"Plans for the ground team?"

"Kaidan, Tali, and you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"Yeah, as you said earlier, you did good on Therum, and… I trust you."

"You trust me?" I crossed my arms.

"Just go get ready. Tell the other two to do the same, _private_."

I jumped up and gave a mock salute. "Aye, aye, ma'am!" I turned sharply on my right foot and walked out.

…

Closing my helmet, I stretched my back as I waited for Shepard to get down here. I was really dreading going on this mission.

 _A fuckin' thresher maw… fuck me. And caused by Cerberus to boot. Lovely._

Slapping a custom thermal clip into my M16, which should be renamed now since it's been improved, Shepard came out of the elevator which had just reached this level a second before. She had her trusty Mantis rifle on her back and a Predator pistol on her left hip. The iconic red strip with white highlight going down her right arm. The N7 logo in the upper left of her chestplate. Her light armor pressing against her in a comfortable but snug looking manner.

 _Okay, Daniel! Stop ogling your Commander. Just get the fuck in the metal death trap called a tank._

I did just that and climbed in after Shepard, hoping right in the gunner's seat.

"I call the turret," I said after I was already secure in the seat.

"I got navigation next to the Commander," Alen- er, Kaidan said.

Tali just sighed and took a seat in the back. "I guess I'll just… sit here."

" _Five minutes to Mako drop, Commander._ "

That announcement from our trusty pilot prompted me to secure the straps of my seat as I activated the guns.

 _Oh, this is simple. Normal power button to get the camera going. A joystick-like control to turn the turret. It has two triggers on the back… top one for the machine gun, bottom for the rockets. Easy enough._

The sudden shake of the meant that Shepard had just drove out of the mass effect field enclosed cargo bay, and that we were now falling. An even harder shake followed by no motion what-so-ever was a sign we were now planetside.

Shepard tore off after Kaidan said the beacon was about two kilometers to the northwest of our location. I swept the Mako's gun constantly, looking out for any overgrown worms. As long as Shepard can dodge the thing, we should be fine.

…

"Everyone, out!"

The Commander didn't have to say that twice as smoke began to fill the now immobile Mako. Alarms blared, signaling that the tank had a high risk of exploding. The thrasher maw had burrowed back underground.

I waited for Kaidan and Tali to be out first. Knowing Shepard would wait for everyone else to be clear, I hopped out as well. The Mako was in flames, the maw's acid reaping havoc on the thing. Shepard jumped out and dashed after the rest of us. Practically on instinct, I turned and threw up a small wall of biotics behind Shepard. I didn't even know I could do that, but it payed off as the tank exploded. She wouldn't have been able to fully clear the blast radius.

I grunted as the strain of the explosion against the barrier caused me to use a decent amount of effort to keep it up to protect Shepard from the flames. Once she got to a safe distance, I dropped it and pulled my M16 off my back.

The maw tore out of the ground near the dead marines, roaring ferociously.

"Don't stop moving!" I yelled before taking off as the thing got ready to launch another ball of acid at us.

Tali followed me while Kaidan went with Shepard. I made sure to keep my pace slow enough that she could keep up as I fired off my rifle at full-auto. The maw took a considerable amount of bullets before it went beneath the surface again. This brought us a few moments to take a breather, and when I say that, I mean instead of a near sprint, we jogged.

It came up again near the Mako wreckage, tossing the now useless tank several meters in the air. I threw a Warp at the things mouth, followed by a throw. The biotic explosion that followed didn't appear to bother it as it hurled an acid blob at Shepard and Kaidan.

 _This thing has to be almost dead. I hit it with ten fuckin' rockets, for fuck's sake! In the face!_

Shepard's sniper discharging echoed then came the pain screech from the thresher maw. It… wiggled wildly before falling to the side, hopefully dead.

" _You two good over there?_ " Shepard asked over the comm, giving off a light panting.

I sighed in relief. "Yeah, Commander. Tali and I are good. How about you two?"

" _About as good as to be expected. Regroup by the downed Grizzly._ "

"Copy, that."

Doing as told, I led Tali over to said vehicle. My M16 stayed in my right hand though, I wasn't about to let my guard down after _that_! Shepard was leaning against the Grizzly as I heard Kaidan calling up to the _Normandy_ for pick up.

Shepard was looking over to her left. I followed with my eyes to where. Several Alliance marines laid dead around the 'distress' beacon. The sight was… more graphic than in game. One marine looked to have many bones broken. Another was burned by the maw's acid, tearing right through her armor. A third was missing a leg while having a large gash in his chest. It was about the same for the rest.

"Someone deliberately set up that beacon in hopes someone will come across that," I said darkly, pointing back to the thresher maw corpse.

"My same thoughts," she said, leaning her head back and closer her eyes. "I'm gonna find the bastards that did this."

"I'll be right by your side." I grabbed my Phalanx and walked over to the beacon. "Now to make sure no one else falls victim." I unloaded six shots into the thing before the side paneling burst outward.

 _Fucking Cerberus… pricks._

…

 _ **A/N: I hoped you liked that chapter. Like I said at the start, it was gonna be pretty relaxed. Not much happened, but it was needed.**_

 _ **Tell me what you thought in the reviews.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	7. Chapter 7 Him

_**A/N: Hi! This chapter is gonna a bit shorter but it's be a goodie! I hope you like it.**_

 _ **Also, thanks for all the reviews, follows, favorites, and all. You're probably loving these fast updates.**_

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

…

Joker had to actually land the Normandy to pick us up on Edolus. Shepard set course for the Citadel after we were aboard since we need a new Mako since a giant damn worm blew it up with its spit. That should take a day or two to get a new one. Perfect, too. I need to get a few outfits while were there. Wearing this black hoodie all the time with dirty clothes isn't ideal.

Anyway, I stored my armor and weapons, keeping my Phalanx on me even though if we're heading back to the Citadel. Never know when Shepard will get us shot at. You always got shot at in the games, why would reality be different? Looking right after coming out of the elevator, I decided to talk to Liara. I haven't really had time to do so since she officially came on the ship.

Walking through the med-bay, nodding greeting to Chakwas, I knocked on the door at the back.

"It's open," came the female reply from the shy asari.

Stepping in, I saw Liara at the terminal she set up, going over… something. I stood against the door frame as she finished typing something then turned to me.

"Doctor T'Soni," I said with a faint smile.

"Mr. Ironwill," she returned, getting out of her seat. "I haven't had the chance to thank you personally for what you did on Therum."

I held up a hand. "Don't have to. Just doing what needed to be done. And please, call me Daniel. I'm starting to hate the sound of 'Mr. Ironwill'. Too formal."

"Then I won't have any qualms if you call me Liara." She smile but also looking a little… out of place. "Was there something you wanted to speak to me about?"

"Not really. Just going around to get to know the people on this ship. I still have few left to talk to."

"Oh, okay. Anything specific you wish to talk about?"

I thought for a moment, needing to pick what I said to not make anyone suspicious that I knew everything about everyone here. "How about why you chose to work with prothean… stuff."

A happy look came on her face. "I've always been fascinated with history, but the protheans in particular captivated me. We barely know anything about them; that mystery of their disappearance is what made me spend the last fifty years of my life looking for anything that might shine light on why they suddenly vanished."

I chuckled as she seemed to start forgetting I was there. She looked over at me with confusion.

"Why are you chuckling? I don't believe I have said anything humorous."

"No, it's just how you sounded while talking and started to get lost in the retelling. It's always a good thing to see someone take such a love for something like you do with your work, Liara."

"Oh, I see. I'm sorry. I haven't had much interaction with your species… or much of any species," she said, looking around a bit in an embarrassed manner. "I get lost in my work most times than not."

"That's fine." Crossing my arms, I leaned against the door frame a bit more.

"What about you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"Why do you do what you do? From what I've seen, you are quite the skilled fighter. You had to have done something before joining this ship. Are you ex-military, mercenary?"

At that, I was sort of caught of guard. I really hadn't spoke to anyone about myself, I always left before they could. This was the first time since coming aboard really, and Liara looked curious.

Clearing my throat a bit, I answered. "No, neither. The only thing resembling training I've had was practice shooting firearms with my uncle. Actually, I really haven't gotten into anything extreme until after I got out of the hospital about a couple days ago."

"The hospital? Why were you in there?"

"I got shot. Nearly died."

Liara's eyes widened. "You recently got out of a hospital and started doing all of this? Goddess, what ever was your reasoning?"

"Well, about an hour after getting discharged I was jumping out of a burning building." The look on Liara's face at that made me guess she thought I was insane. "There was a woman trapped on the third floor. No one was helping. I did. Had to use a shockwave to get pass some flames. When I went to see if I could do it again, the flames were too intense. So, I smashed this case with an old Earth gun. It was actually loaded, so I shot at the windows and tackled the woman out. I used my biotics to slow us down. That's when I met up with Shepard."

She took that in briefly. "That… is quite an act to do after being discharged from a hospital, Daniel. A noble one as well."

I shrugged. "Someone had to do it."

"Indeed."

Well, feeling the conversation was practically done at that, I said goodbye for now and left the med-bay. Joker was going to be my next stop. He was one of my favorite characters in the games and all he did was sit and flew the _Normandy_. Also, I felt with my sarcastic nature, we could get along quite well. So, I strolled through the CIC toward the crippled pilot. I nodded to various people, Presslly included.

 _I'm gonna try to save him as well. He doesn't deserve to die by the Collectors._

I stopped behind the pilot's chair, looking out the cockpit windows at the streaks of blue as we went through FTL… or was this a relay jump? Ah, whatever. Kaidan was in the co-pilot's seat next to him.

"So, making the rounds like the Commander does?" Joker asked nonchalantly, surprising me a bit.

"I guess so, flyboy," I said, resting my elbow on the left of the headrest. "Do you ever get out of that chair?"

"You haven't heard. I'm a cripple. Vrolik Syndrome. My bones shatter like glass if I put too much pressure on… well, anything."

I shook my head. "Relax, Joker. Just fuckin' with ya."

He looked over his shoulder briefly. "You know you shouldn't make fun of cripples. Kinda morally wrong and all that. Then again, I am technically now higher rank than you, Private."

 _How the fuck did he know?_ "How do you know?"

"Really? The Commander made an announcement to welcome you to the Alliance not too long ago. You seriously didn't hear?"

"I must have been in the slow ass elevator at the time," I grumbled a bit. Not so much out of everyone knowing, but that Shepard didn't even ask me. _Ah, I'll get over it in… about six seconds._

"So… any reason you came up here?"

"Not really. Wanted to point and laugh at the cripple a bit. You know, allievate the stress the last two mission have brought."

"Watch it. I'm higher rank."

"I can break your arm by poking you. I think I'm in a better position than you."

The smirk on Joker's face was evident in his voice as he replied. "I'm not so sure. This chair is pretty comfy."

With a smirk of my own, I said, "Anything for the cripple, I suppose."

"Damn, another cripple joke. You need new materail."

"How, when I just started using the materail? Not hurting your feelings now, am I, flyboy?"

"…No."

"I so am."

"No, it's… it's just that it isn't original."

I stepped to the left of the chair and crossed my arms so he could see. "Uh-huh."

He rolled his eyes, waving his hand over the holographic controls. Leaning into the intercom mic a bit, he said to the entire ship, "ETA to the Citadel: thirty minutes."

I looked back out the windows, thinking about how this is supposed to be all a game, yet here I was. Getting shot, nearly crushed, nearly blown up, jumping out burning buildings. Then there was the deal with the biotics and two amps and modifications to my body. Also, the question of how I got here. Ending up in an alternate universe just wasn't something that happened everyday, you know.

"You gonna stand there all day? I kinda like my space, you know."

Blinking at the sound of Joker's voice, I stepped back behind the chair.

"Sorry," I said. "Guess I got lost in thought."

He scoffed sarcastically. "Lost? You were gone, Daniel. Almost ten minutes without moving."

 _Holy shit! Really?_ _I guess time flies when you contemplate your existence_ _in a universe that is based on a video game_ _._

"Damn, I must have been over in the Andromeda galaxy," I said as I slid my hands in my hoodie pockets. "Well, I'm gonna get going. Prepare to head out before we reach the Citadel."

"'Kay, see ya, Private."

I rolled my eyes at that, turning on my heels and heading back down to the mess hall. Not sure what to actually do, I sat against the back wall of the sleeper pods, hood up and eyes looking at the floor. I couldn't even get lost in thought even if I wanted to. It wasn't even two minutes before someone came by.

"Hey, Ironwill," Shepard said as she stood over me.

Looking up, I smiled and said with more warmth than I thought possibly for myself, "Hey, Shepard."

"Mind if I sit?"

Shaking my head, I scooted over to give her a comfortable amount of space. Surprisingly, she sat down cross legged. I expected her to sit with her knees up and arms resting on them in some kind of solider-like way. Whatever.

"So, how does it feel to be part of the Alliance?" She asked.

Shrugging, "I'm not sure. Ask me again once I've actually been in combat or something." I looked over at her. "Any particular reason you came over her? Besides asking me that."

The Commander did that little lip biting thing I saw her do before Edolus. Had to be a nervous habit, but why?

"I wanted to see if you wanted to hit the range."

"Does the Citadel have any?"

"No, on the ship."

My head jerked up and over to her. "Why was I not told of this?"

"I thought you knew."

I got up and waited for Shepard to, too, before walking toward the elevator, her following.

As the door closed, she looked over. "I guess that's a yes then."

"Damn right it's a yes," I said, pulling the Phalanx out of my pocket. "If I had known sooner, that is where I would have been.

She eyed the pistol with a smirk. "You had that on you? When in the ship?"

Glancing at the gun, I shrugged. "Eh, must be some subconscious trust issues."

"Do you trust me?"

 _Okay, that question was not what I was expecting. I expected her to make some sarcastic reply. And… was_ _that with_ _a bit of uncertainty? No, must have just heard it oddly._

"Course I do, Shepard. You are an N7. The Lioness of Elysium. The only one brave enough to hunt down Saren with this small of a ship. If you can't trust someone like that, then you can't trust anyone."

Shepard just nodded and smiled faintly, staring at the floor after.

Finally the elevator opened to a floor that looked to be a gym/training area/ shooting range. Gym equipment was the first thing in the room. A little divider wall separated that area from the sparring area. But that looked a bit large. Was the shooting range holographic?

"I'm going to program this for the Torfan simulation but double the enemies," Shepard said as she walked up to a datapad resting on the divider wall. Her rifle was rest against the short wall as well. A section of the wall slid away to allow Shepard to go in. She waved me to follow. Once I got pass the wall, a kinetic barrier came online, protecting those that were using the gym equipment from stray rounds.

I nodded to Shepard to start. A projector on the ceiling powered up and put up a simulation that look to be a war-torn street, Shepard and I being in one of the destroyed houses. Holograms of batarians appeared then, shooting at the two of us. There was a lot of them.

 _This is going to be fun._

I took over behind the holographic wall as Shepard let a round fly. Popping up, two rounds found their mark in the chest of holographic batarians, but I had to drop back down into cover due simply to the heavy amount of fire coming at us. Shepard did say she was going to double the enemies.

 _Damn N7s, having to show off._

…

Shepard and I spent twenty minutes in the range. It ended when we finished the simulation, but barely. The Torfan sim was brutal. Shepard beat me in score, but I was giving support with my biotics. In all though, it was fun as hell. We would have to do it again another time.

Now I waited at the airlock with a couple others from the ground team as Joker approached the Citadel to dock. Shepard said she may have to take care a few things plus talking with Anderson about a new Mako. She would be taking Liara and Williams with her. The rest of us were able to do as we pleased as long as we take a portable shield generator and a weapon.

 _I got that covered, but I should check with Avitus about a better portable shield generator. This thing I have now is simply an Alliance reg one._ _It's shit compared to what I could have._

The _Normandy_ shook slightly, and Joker turned around to give us a thumbs up that we could go. I let Wrex, Tali, and Kaidan go first. Garrus stood next to me in his blue armor. Ninety percent of turians wear armor all the time, it seemed. Casual attire actually looked weird on them.

"Not wearing a helmet, Daniel?" Garrus jokingly asked.

I looked him right in the eye and pointedly pulled up my hood enough that most of my face would be hidden if I looked down slightly where ever I go. "That's what this is for, Detective."

He let out a flanging groan at that. "Please, don't call me that."

"That is what you do, though."

"I know, but when ever I would be called that, things didn't go my way back at C-Sec. It was usually to tell me to know my place." He crossed his arms as the airlock was ready for us and we entered. "That was the problem; all the red tape in the way. How can I help someone when I know I can when the Captain is telling me no?"

"Possible media and political repercussions," I said. "They don't want you shooting a suspect with a hostage because it would look bad. Questions would be asked: 'Was there any other way?' 'Did you order the shot to be taken?' 'Have your officers gone off the deep end?' It would just keep spiraling until your drawn up as the villain because the media believes that is what will get more views."

Garrus looked forward blankly, taking that in before responding. "That… was oddly enlightening."

I chuckled. "I guess it was. So, any plans while we're here?"

"Not really, no. You?"

"I plan on getting some more clothes. I only have one outfit, and I sure as hell am going to need more. You know of any places that sell clothes in the style I wear?" I tugged at my shirt a bit by the collar.

He shook is fringed head. "Sorry, Daniel, I don't. You could probably just search up human clothes stores on you omni-tool. But I'll come with you."

"You sure? Not really the most exciting thing in the world." The airlock finished the decontamination process and we exited that and into the elevator to C-Sec.

"Well, I won't worry about that. Shepard seems she'll lead us to all the exciting things possible with this mission of ours. You never know what may happen." He chuckled, his mandibles spreading out a little.

The elevator arrived and we got out. Going to a rapid transport station, Garrus called up a VI driven cab. Garrus set it to go to a part of the Citadel that apparently has a decent amount of clothing stores for multiple species.

As the cab flew to one of the Ward arms, I thought about asking Garrus what he thought of the Commander. I finally decided against it, figuring that it wouldn't really matter. I knew what he thought of her. He respected her and looked up to her.

Bringing up my omni-tool, I searched for any stores in the area we would be landing. To my luck, there was one store with the type of clothing I wanted just a block down from were we would land. And it was expensive. I had the money to pay for it anyway.

The cab landed after a few minutes, and I led Garrus to the store I found. I was never really picky with my clothes. As long as they were not tight or stand out too much, I was good. After about fifteen minutes of looking around the store, I bought six t-shirts of varying colors, mostly darker ones, some jeans and sweatpants, and two more jackets. In all, I was satisfied with what I got.

Garrus carried two bags for me as I carried the other four. The bags were pretty small. I didn't understand why the only had one bag size there. It was stupid. Anyway, we walked toward the closest rapid transport station about a block and a half away. It was when we went past an alley that I stopped cold at what I heard.

 _That fucking giggle… The bastard that shot me!_

My biotics flared around me as Garrus turned around to see what I was doing. I dropped the bags I had and pulled out my Phalanx, barking at Garrus to stay here. I charged into the alley to see someone turn the corner at the end. Charging again, I ended up in the middle of another alley that bisected the one I came from. I grounded my teeth as I looked around wildly. The hold on my pistol's grip was strong enough that I could faintly feel it bending inwards. Turning around to the other end of the alley, I saw a silhouetted figure standing twenty yards away… in the opposite direction I saw him turn.

Not caring how he got there, I marched forward with a rage induced calm. My pistol was level with his head the entire way as I closed the distance. The back of his head, covered in natty, dirty hair that just barely scratched his shoulders, begged for a bullet to be sent through it as he stood there in ignorance of my approach. When I got within five feet, he turned around abruptly with some exaggerated hand motions. The sudden movement cause me to stop.

"Why hello there, dearie!"

 _No way…_

"What? Not so talkative now?"

 _No fucking way…_ _I had to be fucking dreaming..._

"Have you gone mute since our last encounter?"

 _I knew that damned giggle was familiar from somewhere…_

"Oh, where are my manners. I haven't properly introduced myself." He did a little hop backwards, bowing in an exaggerated manner. He said his name then stood back to full height.

"Rumpelstiltskin, at your service, dearie."

…

 _ **A/N: Confused? Good! Any questions, well some of them, will be answered in the next chapter. I'll leave it at that. But I really hope what I have planned is good. I think things will really pick up now.**_

 _ **Also, I want to know if I did a good job presenting Joker with non-game dialogue. He is kinda like me in his sarcastic and funny responses, so I hope I wrote his parts well. Except I'm more of an asshole than him lol.**_

 _ **So please, review, follow, favorite if you enjoyed! I would really appreciate it.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	8. Chapter 8 The Watcher

_**A/N: If you're seeing this chapter twice, that's because something messed up and it was showing properly. So I just removed the chapter and posted it again. Welcome back! Here's the chapter many of you have probably been waiting for since last time. You'll get answers to your questions as to what the fuck happened at the end of the last chapter. The reviews made it seem like what happened was pulled off well, so I hope this chapter is done well too.**_

 _ **Also, thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites since last time. They are greatly appreciated and motivate me to write.**_

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

…

"No, no, no, this has to be some kind of hallucination," I said, shaking my head in disbelief. _There was no fucking way a character from a TV show called_ Once Upon a Time _was the bastard that caused this!_

"Sorry to tell ya, dearie, but I ain't," 'Rumpelstiltskin' said, suddenly sitting on a metal box to my left as if he fucking teleported.

My gun was leveled with his head nearly as instantly as he moved. "You are not some god damn TV character!"

He shook his head with a mocking smile. "That, I am not. I chose this form, something you can easily recognize. It makes the whole process a bit easier."

"What process?! What the fuck are you talking about?!" I was two seconds away from calling Garrus before I unloaded rounds into him until my ammo block was gone.

"You won't be able," he said with that fucking giggle, seemingly reading my mind. "Time is frozen when ever you speak with me. No back-up, dearie."

I was at a lost for words with this bastard. This was the prick that shot me, not doubt there. But… I didn't know.

This 'Rumpelstiltskin' got up with an exasperated sigh, as if he just gave up trying to explain something to a child. "Let me show you." He placed a hand on my shoulder before I could react. Everything went cold. My vision blacked out. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing on a glass floor surrounded by nothing but light blue that went on forever.

"What the fuck…," I muttered as I glanced around.

 _How am I here?_

 _(Well, I'll tell you, dearie!)_

"Jesus!" I yelled, hand going up to my head as I heard the fucker's voice _in my head_. "How the fuck are you able to do that?"

He giggled again, as if this was some game to him. "Well… while in the Dream State, I can hear, read, and go through your thoughts."

"The 'Dream State'? What the hell is going on?!"

With a wave of his hand, a wooden table with matching chairs appeared to my right. An old fashion, ornate tea set was set out, steam slowly rising out of the kettle.

"Please, sit. We have a lot to talk about."

Glaring at him and how he suddenly ended up in a chair at the table, I slowly made my way over, sitting down but keeping my pistol on top on the table aimed at him.

"Why did you shoot me?" I asked in a threatening tone.

'Rumpelstiltskin' poured himself so tea then a cup for me. He set it down in front of me, relaxing in the chair after. "It made the transfer easier."

I slammed my unoccupied fist on the table. "What transfer?!"

"The one to bring you here, dearie. Moving people from one universe to another is easier when their life is slowly slipping away." Then to himself. "I'm the only one that does it for fun, though."

"What are you?" I demanded through gritted teeth.

He looked at me with a bored expression. "I'm a, for lack of a better word, Watcher. I make sure those universe-crossers, such as yourself, don't somehow tear the fabric of reality apart with your stupidity. My boss assigned my to keep a watchful eye on you, dearie."

My finger twitched on the trigger, and I was hoping for the gun to go off but it didn't. "You said something about taking that form..."

"Ah, yes. We are to take forms of those you may know. I chose the illustrious Rumpelstiltskin from _Once Upon a Time_. And he reminded me so much of… me." Another one of those insane giggles came again. "Our actually forms are like a humanoid glowing… things. Made up of entirely light. This is to make it less odd. Not that I really care, though."

"Why am I here?! Why was I chosen?!"

He wagged a finger at me. "Uh, uh, uh, dearie. That is need to know, and you don't. Need. To know."

That hot tingle near my amps that I've felt several times before now rose to a boiling point as I shot up from my chair and tossed the table to the side. My biotics came online as I lobbed a Warp at his ass. He showed no movement besides jerking his right arm up and _catching the Warp orb_. Closing his hand, it disappeared in a small flash of light blue. Not content with just that, I fired my Phalanx at him. He was suddenly in my face before the fist round left the barrel. The bastard touched the arm holding the gun, making the entire limb go limp. I reared my left fist back to do a biotic punch, but he just caught my fist, that whole limb going limp as well.

Rumple glared at me as he said in a menacing tone the character he picked often did. "I am a god compared to you. You cannot touch me. You're stuck with me, dearie, as I am stuck with you as well." He tapped my forehead, and I fell onto my back.

"The hell did you just do?!" I yelled from the ground, my arms still useless.

Reverting back to his previous tone, he answered. "You know how you have been thinking you have seen different colors in your biotics?" Now that he brought it up, I did remember thinking I saw red mixed into my biotics a few times before. "Well, dearie, I just fully unlocked your amps, allowing all the abilities from each capable with time. And all the side effects."

"What side effects?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just that your biotics will change color to correspond with your mood." He glanced down a watch that appeared on his wrist. "Oh, look at the time! It seems our time together is over for now, dearie. Ta-ta."

Before I could get any type of response in, the same thing that happened when I came in here happen. Next thing I know, I'm standing in the middle of the alley on the Citadel, arm still pointing the Phalanx down the alley.

" _Daniel?_ " Garrus' voice came through the earpiece I had in.

Putting my pistol away, I replied. "Yeah, Garrus?"

" _Spirits, what the hell did you run off for?_ "

"I thought I saw that bastard that shot me."

" _And…?_ "

"If it was him, he got away."

Silence occurred on his end for a moment. " _Sorry to hear. How about you come back. You can drop your clothes back at the_ Normandy _then we can get something to eat after, find a place on the Citadel that offers real food._ "

Making my way back to him, I sighed. "Sure, sounds good, Garrus."

 _Life just fuckin' hates me._

…

Sighing, I leaned back in the chair at this pizza place Garrus and I found that was on the Presidium. Interestingly enough, the place was owned by a human and turian. They made food for both species, dextro and amino-acid ones, that is. Even with my sour mood after meeting Rumple (that's what I was going to call the fucker), I insisted with Garrus we head here.

"So," Garrus said slowly, wiping a bit of some type of sauce that turians are able to eat from around his mouth. "What was that thing I just ate called?"

"For the third time, Detective, it's called pizza."

He nodded as he tossed the napkin he was using on his plate. "Good, stuff. Simple, but good."

I allowed myself a smirk. "You're damn right. Pizza is fuckin' amazing."

We sat in silence a bit at that, a waitress coming around and taking our empty plates. My thoughts went back to Rumple, or what ever his actually name is. All of his answers were deliberate in making me frustrated. The only thing I really got out of that little meeting was more questions and the equivalent of a biotic mood ring. But I knew one thing for sure:

"I'm going to kill that man."

"What was that, Daniel?" Garrus asked as he was doing something on his omni-tool.

"Nothing important," I said, sighing again.

He shrugged in response.

I payed the bill since I still had enough credits to probably buy the third nicest place on this station… I think. I mentioned about seeing Avitus for better portable shields and Garrus agreed. So, we went there next. The damn Alliance reg shields were gonna be shit in a firefight.

It wasn't that short of a walk to Av's place. Maybe a ten minute walk. Anyway, entering the store, Avitus looked up and gained a large turian grin. Spreading his arms out wide, he motioned for us to come in with his talons.

"Daniel! Garrus! Great to see ya!" He said with quite a lot of mirth. "What brings you to back here?"

Approaching the counter, Garrus replied. "We're looking for some better portable shield generators, Av. Got any that will beat these standard Alliance ones?" He tossed the shield generator on the counter.

"You bet your bony ass I do!" Avitus ducked behind the counter. Two seconds later, he popped back up with a hop, placing two small boxes on the counter. "Generators of my own design. Personally tested. Will stop anything up to a dreadnought coming at you. I think. Probably. I would recommend not testing that out, though. It does fairly well against shotguns, though. And for you two, I'll give you both for only a thousand credits. Seem fair?"

Garrus and I shrugged and payed half of the thousand each. I immediately pulled my new one out and slid it in where I had the other one, powering that one down and storing it in my left jeans pocket. It was then that Shepard's voice came into our earpieces.

" _If anyone is feeling helpful, we could use some help at these coordinates._ " The sound of gunfire was heard in the background followed by a small explosion. " _This century would be nice._ "

I shook my head and opened up the coordinates she sent. "Commander, Garrus and I are fairly close to your location. Heading there now, Ironwill out." I looked to Garrus who was already checking his pistol. "Time to try out our new toys, Detective."

…

I heard the gunfire as the skycar's door opened and the both of us rushed out. Some warehouse in one of the Wards. Insignificant looking. Nothing to note… except the gunfire coming from inside.

 _Sure as hell wasn't in the game._

Making sure my new shield generator was on, I readied my Phalanx. My biotics flared around me, and I had to do a double take at the color. They glowed a light blue color now. As I wondered why they were, they changed to a darker yellow.

 _So this is the mood colors showing. Light blue must be calm, and the dark yellow must be confused. Got it._

Garrus had taken point and waited at the side entrance to the warehouse, back to me. I leaned into the other side of the door, Garrus having to take another glance at me to with my now light blue biotics. He shook his head to get back into focus and opened the door with his omni-tool.

I biotically charged in, slamming my fist into the face a random turian firing his Avenger toward the other side of the warehouse. Placing two bullets into his head when he it the ground, a light blue Warp was thrown at a salarian that was a few feet from him. I followed that up with a shockwave that detonated the warp and threw a few others to the ground.

The half-wits finally got aware what was happening, and I had to roll behind a crate as at least five weapons were fired at me. Peeking out the side of the crate I counted the hostiles.

 _One… two… three… Jesus Christ! Fifteen of these fuckers?! And several already dead! Three krogan while the rest are salarian and turian. Saren._ _Had to be._ _And t_ _his has to be one of his warehouses for his agents. But how the hell did Shepard find it?_

"Daniel," Garrus yelled over the gunfire. "Let's try to make it over to Shepard's position!"

"Got ya!" I replied, jumping up and launching a Throw orb at the closest enemy. Forming a large shockwave in my left hand, I planned on having several crates fly into the fuckers. Unleashing it, crates flew into them; some being knocked down from the crates, some being knocked down from the shockwave. "Garrus, move!"

He did so, running to where I could see Shepard, Williams, and Liara. As Garrus hopped over a crate to land next to Liara, I charged over, jumping and rolling over a crate, landing next to Shepard.

"Ironwill, why the hell are your biotics light blue?" was the first thing she said to me. _Yeah, hello to you, too._

"Hell, if I know," I lied. I fired two rounds over the crate, but when I went to say something else to her, she was completely still.

 _Wait, the warehouse just got quiet… Fuck me._

Standing up, I spotted Rumple standing in the middle of the warehouse. He was staring at one of the krogan like he was some piece of art, finger tapping his chin and everything.

"What do you what?" I said curtly. This bastard didn't deserve pleasantries.

Rumple looked over his shoulder and had that fake, mocking smile. "I wanted to see how you do in combat, dearie. What better way then to cause something that your dear old Commander would need back up for."

I scowled at him, pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You caused this? How?"

"Oh, I can do a lot of things, dearie. Many of them could be considered magic. Flaming sword? Done. Flying carpet? Done. Transporting an individual into another universe? Obviously, already done."

Glaring, my biotics started to turn a red color. My left hand balled up into a tight fist. "Is there anything else, Rumple?"

"Ooh, nicknames! Well, Danny, I did want to comment of this place's Shepard. I can now see why you keep staring at her. All of those curv-"

"Enough, fuckface!"

"Fire, I like that! It'll make things more interesting in the future." He tapped his fingers together in a giddy manner. "Oh, I can't wait until Noveria!"

"Why Noveria?"

"Uh, against the rules to say, dearie. Now ta-ta!"

Just like that he was gone… and I was being knocked down to the ground by a shotgun blast, my shields barely holding. I winced in pain as I tried to get up, my back and ribs hurting.

 _I think a rib cracked… or two._

"Ironwill!" I heard Shepard call out.

I waved a hand, showing I was somewhat okay as I sat up. "Think some ribs cracked. Otherwise, I'm good, Commander." I leaned against a crate, letting out a frustrated exhale of breath.

The rest of the fight was standard. I provided biotic support, not wanting to bother my ribs too much until I had Chakwas check me out. C-Sec arrived after the fighting. When asked what happened, Shepard just said "Spectre business" and kept walking. She sounded exhausted. Calling for a skycar, we piled in; Garrus, Williams and Liara squeezing in the back seat while Shepard took the driver side and I took the passenger side seat in the front. Once back on the _Normandy_ , I went straight to the med-bay.

...

"They're just bruised?" I asked incredulously as I slipped my shirt back on slowly. I could have sworn at least one was cracked.

Chakwas nodded. "Bruised ribs can hurt quite painfully. Just take this icepack for now and don't do anything strenuous for the next day. You should be good for combat after that."

I took the icepack from her extended hand, nodding thanks as I got up and left. Throwing up my hood and pressing the icepack to my ribs lightly, my sights were set on my usual place at the back of the sleeper pods. I slumped against the wall and slid down, sighing. Today had been hell.

 _Let me go over what happened today. I followed the bastard that shot me into an alley. It turned out to be Rumpelstiltskin from that Once Upon a Time show, yet it wasn't. It was some fuck calling himself a 'Watcher' and saying he took that form to make things easier._ _I only watched three episodes of that show._ _Apparently, he seems to be some kind of interdimensional being that makes sure these 'universe-crossers', as he called them, don't fuck things up. And he is just one of a bunch of them. To me, he was borderline insane, whether from taking on the form of Rumple or just naturally being that way. Then there is Noveria. Something apparently interesting will happen there… but what? Hopefully, we head there next so the anticipation doesn't kill me. Oh, and now I have rainbow biotics. Great…_

I leaned my head back against the wall and closed me eyes.

…

I became aware of my surroundings again when I felt something lightly shaking me. Opening my eyes and letting them readjust, the sight of one of the crew members from the CIC was standing over me.

"Private… Ironwill?" I nodded to him. "Hey, buddy, you should get into a pod. Sleeping like that isn't good for your body, and I don't know how long you've been like this."

"When did we get back to the ship?" I asked groggily, rubbing my eyes.

"About five hours ago."

"Then I've been asleep for about five hours." _Damn, I didn't even feel that tired. Maybe it has something to do with Rumple freezing time or taking me into that 'Dream State' place… which I still didn't know what that place was._

"So I guess you won't be getting back to sleep anytime soon, then."

"Right, but thanks for the thought."

The crewman nodded and climbed into his pod. I stood up slowly, popping a few kinks in my joints, being carefully of my still sore ribs. I walked over to the tables in the mess hall, using my biotics to open the cabinet and pull out a biotic portion MRE. Not caring about what was inside, I ate at a slower pace then normal. The only thing the caught my attention while I ate was the sound of the elevator opening followed by the sound of boots on metal plating.

Williams came around the corner and gave me a nod. "Private. Finally wake up from your beauty nap?"

"Ha-ha, Chief," I said in a flat tone. "But why are you still awake?"

She shrugged as she grabbed a bottle of water and sat down across from me. "Not tired. Anyway, with aliens on the ship, I haven't been able to get a restful sleep anyway."

 _Ah, here is her slight xenophobic side showing. I think I need to help change that view._

"Do you have an issue with our non-human crew members, Chief?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, putting down the waffle from the MRE on the packaging.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "I just don't like the idea of aliens roaming around the most advanced ship in the Alliance, hell, the galaxy."

"Shepard trusts them, Williams. That should be reason enough that you should. Hell, I seem to have a fairly good relationships with all of them."

"You headbutted the krogan after he threatened you."

I chuckled. "Respect through displays of strength, Chief."

Williams gave me a look that said 'yeah sure'. "Or displays of suicidal tendencies."

"Well, I do plan on reclaiming my throne," I replied with a smirk.

"What throne and from who?" She asked, leaning back in her chair a bit.

"From the Devil, of course."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, keep dreaming, pal."

After that, a comfortable silence fell over us. I continued to eat. Williams did… something on her omni-tool. That even made me check mine. It had been a while since I really went on it. With a waffle in one hand, omni-tool open on the other arm, I swiped across the hard-light screen with my pinky.

 _What?! Google is still around? And YouTube? I have a lot of videos to catch up on then._

"So," Williams said abruptly, making me jerk me head up. I raised an eyebrow, signaling her to go on. "Why did you join up?"

"With the Alliance or Shepard?" I asked.

"Both."

I nodded as I thought quickly on how to put it into words. "Well, Shepard needed any help she could get, especially since the Council are doing nothing. And for the Alliance… I've always thought about joining the military since I was in my mid-teens. After this mission, I have nowhere to go, no job. I figured I might as well put my self to use, help others. So now, how about you? Why did you join?"

She sighed but spoke anyway. "The Williams family has had a long tradition of generations joining the Alliance. My grandfather joined, my father, then me. Wasn't really much else besides wanting to continue the tradition. But it seems a curse is over my family."

"Oh? How so?" I already new the answer though.

"You know Shanxi?" I nodded. "Well, it was during that battle that my grandfather became the first human to surrender to an alien force. Since then, it seems the Alliance doesn't want a Williams to do much. M father never made it pass Serviceman. I was kept to groundside garrisons for a while. Bullshit, that what it was."

"Yeah, from what you say, it was. What would've the Alliance want your grandfather to do? Kept fighting and let many men and women die fighting the turians when it was hopeless to fight that fight? You don't run full speed into a frigate and expect to live. You lay down so you live to go on another day. It's just the Alliance trying to save face. Prove them wrong by being the best damn soldier possible."

Williams smiled softly at that. "Oh, I planned on it." She checked the time on her omni-tool. "Well, I should try to get some rest. I enjoyed this little talk, Private. Let's do it again sometime when the Commander isn't having us run into a wall of bullets."

I laughed. "Chief, I'll be willingly running into that fight."

"Me too. 'Night."

"Later… Ash."

…

 _ **A/N: Well… I hope you guys enjoyed that. I hoped it made sense. There are still a few things that need to be explained though, but those will be answered in time.**_

 _ **Anyway, if you enjoyed please review, follow, maybe even favorite.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	9. Chapter 9 Asshole Admiral

_**A/N: So, last chapter I had to delete then post again because it hadn't updated correctly. Oops. Eh, whatever. The chapter is posted, that's all that matters. So, I decided to wait a few more days to post this one. It's nothing much, just something needed to push things forward without rushing the story majorly.**_

 _ **Thanks for any reviews, follows, or favorites on last chapter. Those really give me motivation to write more often. I actually never expected this story to do as well as it's doing now. So again, thanks.**_

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

…

The next two days went by fairly slowly while waiting for the new Mako to arrive. It was just the usual boring side quest stuff that happened. Shepard took me for a few of them. She also went to see Rear Admiral Kahoku to inform him about his marines.. I cautioned him not to go off half-cocked after the fucks who did what they did to his soldiers. Hopefully he takes my advice and at least takes a decent amount of help when looking for those Cerberus bastards.

 _I would love to help. Give old Timmy a big 'fuck you' even before meeting him._

Other than that, nothing noteworthy happened. No intense firefights, no Rumple popping up out of nowhere. I actually enjoyed the somewhat downtime. I sure needed it. Since getting shot and sent to this universe, my life had been going non-stop.

Now though… now I was standing next to Shepard just outside of the docking cradle as an Alliance engineering team was loading the new Mako into the _Normandy_. It looked exactly like the old one before it was blown up and turned in to scrap by thresher maw acid. I subconsciously prayed that this one at least handled better. Or maybe Shepard was just a really shit driver.

 _Maybe the Alliance should try to weaponize that_ _acid_ _stuff_ _though_ _; it eats through anything… Oh God! The Hammerhead would barely last a second against a thresher maw. I pray that we don't have to use that thing beyond Project Overlord._

"Commander Shepard."

I half-turned to the voice that came from behind us, hand reaching for my Phalanx in my pocket on an instinct that I didn't realize I had. I relaxed once I saw it was an Alliance officer. Figuring it would be good to get into the military mindset, I saluted the… Rear Admiral going by what was on his hat.

He nodded to me with barely a glance, allowing me to take up the causal military stance. He walked right up to Shepard. "Commander, Rear Admiral Mikhailovich. I command the Sixty-third Scout Flotilla. This ship and yourself were slated for my unit after the shake down run. Before the Council got their claws, paws, tentacles… whatever, they got them on our ship _and you_. I'm here to preform a surprise inspection of the _SSV_ _Normandy._ She is still an Alliance warship. I tend to see that she is still up to snuff."

 _I knew he was familiar…_ _dick._

Shepard was clearly surprised but didn't really show it beyond raised eyebrows. "Well, Admiral, Captain Anderson made it clear to me that my assignment came from way up in the Brass. They say jump, your suppose to ask 'how high'."

"Remember that when I tell you to jump. I don't begrudge the politicians decision to throw you to the Council. It's an… opportunity. I do begrudge this over-designed piece of tin."

"The _Normandy_ is the best ship in the galaxy, Sir," I said with forced neutrality. _He is gonna piss me off, I can already tell._

He narrowed his eyes at me. "That's a matter of opinion, soldier. This ship would be useless in a stand-up fight. All this ship is is an experiment. Billions of credits used that could have went toward a heavy cruiser. But, no. We had to make nice with the turians."

"Sir, let's not waste unnecessary time. Allow me to lead you into the ship," Shepard said, cutting me off from replying to that.

"It would be appreciated, Commander." Mikhailovich glanced over his shoulder at me as I followed behind him. "Commander, he saluted me yet does not wear any Alliance clothing. Why is that?"

My hand subconsciously twitched towards my pistol as Shepard replied. "Oh, that was kinda last minute, Sir. Ironwill asked if I could get in contact with Captain Anderson, get him into the Alliance Marines. He's only been in the Alliance for two or so days, and we have already wasted time waiting for a new Mako; getting him Alliance reg clothes was bottom on our list."

"It is something that should be rectified, Commander. If he wants to play the part of a soldier, he should look the part." He glanced over at me again with a look of indifference as we entered the CIC. "Not some emotionally troubled teenager."

 _'Emotionally trou-'? Oh,_ _I'm five second_ _s_ _away from hitting his ass off the Citadel with a_ _T_ _hrow orb._ _Or turning him into a human pretzel._

I wasn't able to respond as the Rear Admiral turned and began his inspection of the ship. Glaring at his back, I leaned against the wall by the airlock and waited for him to return.

Twenty minutes passed when I heard footsteps coming close from the other end of the CIC. Mikhailovich walked into my sight and stopped in front of Shepard, who was talking with Joker.

"I expect to hear that everything is in order, Admiral," she said, turning around.

Mikhailovich shook his head. "I'm not happy, Commander."

"What seems to be wrong, Sir?"

"Where to start? Oh, how about the CIC. The design is poor. Putting the commanding officer behind everyone else is not efficient. What if he needs to speak to an operator towards the bow?"

"I believe that's a modified turian design," I said as I pushed off the wall. "Allow the commander to oversee everyone in the CIC has done the turians well so far, and they have been flying through space longer than us. Plus, they are regarded highly for their military."

The Admiral stroked his short, gray beard a moment. "A reasonable goal. But something like that should have been studied in a lab, not on a frontline ship." He looked back to Shepard just after she rolled her eyes. "Now that drive core of yours. A hundred billion credits of Element Zero just so this thing is able to move without giving itself away. We could make drive cores for twelve thousand fighters with that money! What good is it to hide for a few hours anyway?!"

I let out a harsh breath of restraint before I replied to that. "Stealth can end wars quickly. Drop a unit behind enemy lines can lead to offing a general without the risk of hundreds of men and women losing their lives in battle. Or the _Normandy_ could scout out territory, make sure a fleet isn't flying into an ambush. Hell, the STG wish they had a ship like this."

"Maybe, maybe. But that's not the job of a proper warship! We're suppose to find and kill the enemy fleet, not count how many times their garrison goes to the bathroom! And we need to talk about your crew, Commander… Krogan? Asari? Turians?! What are you thinking, Commander?! You can't allow alien nationalists free access to Alliance equipment!"

 _Oh, I should have just went below deck…_

"Listen!" I said angrily, stepping in front of him. "Those 'alien nationalists' are our allies. I consider all of them friends. I'm sure the Commander here does too. That turian? He wants to bring down Saren for disgracing his people. The asari? She's a prothean expert who Saren wanted to capture, using force to do so. The quarian? Saren's men ambushed her because she had evidence that proved him guilty of attacking Eden Prime. The krogan? …Well, can't say much. We're going against a tough enemy, and he wants a tough fight. He has too much honor to betray us. So, if you have anything else you want to complain about because you have barely progress beyond the neanderthal mindset of combat, then I suggest you walk off this ship before I hit your ass with a shockwave out of the cargo bay doors!"

I noticed the red light being cast on the bastard's Alliance uniform and glanced down at myself. My biotics had flared while I went on that little rant, double the intensity they've reached before. The red glow with the black hood over my head must have made me look quite intimidating, but if it did, Mikhailovich didn't seem fazed. Actually, he was scowling at me.

"You do that," he growled, "and your career will be over before it begins."

I let out a chuckle that could have been mistaken for a scoff. "Good thing my military career has barely started then." I pointed to the airlock behind him. "Now get the hell off our ship!"

He glared at me then looked up to Shepard behind me. "I will make sure to let the Joint of Chiefs know that you have allowed… animals on your ship." With that, he walked into the airlock and out the ship.

Knowing he was talking about me, I let out a breath of frustration and slammed my fist into the wall, biotics allowing me to dent the metal slightly.

"Ey!" Joker called from his chair. "Stop denting my baby!"

I blew air out my nose, biotics dimming.

"Ironwill." Shepard said in a concerned yet reprimanding tone.

I began walking away. "Not now, Shepard. I need to go shoot something… forty-seven times perhaps."

…

I forced the omni-blade into the batarians neck, shooting him twice in the head just to get out my anger. His holographic body vanished as I charged another enemy, a salarian, and hit him in the throat with a biotic punch. It was hard enough that the neck bend at an abnormal angle and the hologram disappeared.

I'd been down here a while now. I felt the ship leave the dock and Joker announce it was ten hours to Feros. That was about an hour and a half ago; I've been going non-stop. I didn't bother getting any other weapons than the ones I've had on me—omni-tool and Phalanx—since I came down to the range immediately after Mikhailovich left. The intensity of the simulation had me practically bathing in sweat. I had to take off my hoodie and shirt to not overheat.

I raised my pistol and fired several shots at an orange batarian hologram. Only two shots hit before it disappear and not because the sim registered it as I kill. I dropped my arm to my side and looked over to the divider wall. Shepard was leaning against it with an amused smirk, wearing an Alliance blue tank top and black sweatpants.

"Come to chew me a new one?" I asked in a neutral tone. "Or was turning the thing off just a way to fuck with me?"

She hopped over the wall and walked over to me. The hard impact of her hand across the back of my head followed as she reached me.

"Yep," I groaned painfully. _Woman has inhuman strength or some shit._ "I deserved that."

"Yes, you did," she said, putting a bit of space between us. She got into a causal fighting stance.

"The hell are doing?"

"I want you to spar with me." She made a 'come here' gesture. "Now come on."

"I don't hit women."

She laughed at that. "No, you're just being a pussy. You're in the Alliance now, gender doesn't mean much." She jogged over to me and gave two weak punches to my bare chest before going back to her previous spot, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Let's go, Private."

Sighing, I got into a basic stance. While I was not ignorant to fighting, my level was more on 'advanced bar fighter' and certainly not 'trained N7 marine'…

 _I'm fucked._

Shepard came at me with a quick jab that I side-stepped. I threw my own punch toward her left shoulder area. Instead of contact, my arm was grabbed. Next thing I know I'm hitting the mat, staring up at the ceiling in a slight daze.

Shepard tapped my head with the tip of her foot. "Get up, soldier. You're a marine now. Marines get. Back. Up."

I hit her with a weak shockwave that only caused her to take a few steps back, more out of surprise than anything. Getting up, I cracked me neck on each side. "I don't know if you know this, Shepard, but I've had zero," I made a zero with my index finger and thumb, "hand-to-hand combat training."

She smiled a mischievous smile, bouncing on her feet. "Then let's get to training."

…

"No, Ironwill! Wrong! Footwork. Lead with your left! No! Wrong!"

That was pretty much what I had been hearing for over an hour. Shepard was apparently serious when she said to get training. And she had been kicking my ass. A few times literally.

To my great relief, Shepard stopped and put her hands on her knees. "Okay, I think that's good for today." I collapsed on the floor at those words, panting. "You did good, Ironwill. Actually, it seemed like you've had some training before."

"I… can assure you… I have not… had prior training. But thanks… Commander…" _Damn, I'm winded._

"Shower up and get some rest. You're gonna be on the ground team when we reach Feros."

"Got… it."

Shepard left at that, heading for the women shower room. After another five minutes of laying on the ground, I finally got up and went to get one myself then something to eat.

Walking out of the elevator, shirt on but hoodie held over my shoulder, I saw Shepard had the same idea as me. She was facing away from me, so I figured I might have to get a reaction out of her.

I opened the cabinets with biotic portion MREs with my biotics slowly. Pulling one out, I closed the cabinet quietly and moved the MRE over toward Shepard. She was indulged with something on her omni-tool, not noticing the purple glowing silver bag floating toward her. I finally got her attention by causing the bag to tap her in the head.

She looked down at the bag with a bob of her head, then moved her eyes toward me. "You know, people usually say 'Hello' or 'Hey' to get someone's attention."

I sat down across from her, using a small Pull to bring my food over to me. "Now where's the fun in that?"

She rolled her eyes, a faint smile coming to her face, and went back to her omni-tool. We ate in quiet for a bit at that. I didn't mind though. I couldn't think of anything to talk about. Well, that was until Shepard spoke up.

"What do you remember before getting shot, Ironwill?" she asked.

 _Certainly wasn't expecting that question. Must be about my amps or something._

"Well, I remember my childhood," I said with a shrug.

"That's it?"

"Oh, no. There is a lot more than that. I pretty much remember everything from when I could to now. If this is about the two amps, it could have been just a week missing from my memory."

"It wasn't entirely about that, but I guess that helps…"

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Why else would you be asking?"

The Commander rubbed the back of her neck causing her ponytail to wave a little. "Oh… uh, just to get to know the crew. I've talked to everyone fairly well. Expect you."

Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my arms. "How about you ask a question, then I get to. Deal?"

"Sure. Where did you grow up?"

"Earth, little area in Pennsylvania. Parts of Montgomery and Schuylkill Counties. Now, where did _you_ grow up?"

"Earth as well. In Philly, actually." _Ah, so her background is earth-born._ "My mom, my sister and I lived in a nice place. Dad was gone a lot of the time. You know, us humans pretty recently finishing the First Contact War."

 _Whoa, wait! She's not an orphan? Well, there is another thing that has changed, but it should be interesting. Now, I barely know anything about Shepard._

"So, what was your family like?" she asked. I hoped I didn't miss anything she was saying.

I shrugged. "Eh, pretty average, but it was a big family. My grandparents on my mom's side had eight grandkids. My sister and I had six cousins, two aunts, and one uncle. We really didn't interact with my father's side of the family, maybe once. Anyway, my uncle was in the military. He was the one who taught me basic firearm skills." I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table and putting my chin on my folded hands. "What made you want to join the Alliance?"

For the next hour and a half, we talked about ourselves. She told me about the time her sister dropped a pure thing a sodium into a toilet. Thing reacted so violently that the thing exploded. I retold my account of when my sister came up to the high school when I reached my senior year and she was a freshman, and I put a shit ton of tennis balls in her locker. They were still finding those things three days later. We discuss our favorite music; I like good rap, rock, and hip-hop; she liked rock and hip-hop herself, the 'older' kind. It was fun. Hearing her go on about odd things that happened in her life was… calming, I guess. I particularly enjoyed her story about this guy at N-School. Some muck was hitting on her for days, even during training. What she did was place male homosexual magazines under his cot with a bag of dick-shaped candies.

After, we both went to get some rest before arriving at Feros. She went back to her cabin, I jumped into a sleeper pod. I rather enjoyed our talk. It was nice. The first real bit of normalcy I had had since arriving in this universe.

…

I opened my eyes but wasn't greeted to the inside of a pod. Instead, I was surround by a light blue while standing on a glass floor. My hands balled up into fists as I narrowed my eyes.

"Rumple," I growled under my breath.

"Yes, dearie?"

The half-wit was behind me, sitting at a bar. Literally. He had set up a counter, stools, shelves filled with several alcoholic beverages, even a holographic bar tender. This guy had way too much time on his hands.

"What do you want, you pathetic imp?" I asked, crossing my arms while lowering my head into a glare.

He just patted the stool next to his with that smile that made me want to punch everything in site. "Come! Sit, dearie. Have a drink."

"I don't drink."

"I do believe they have some liquid for light-weights. Pretty sure it's called 'waaaatttteeer'. Do you want that?"

Giving him a flat look, "Was there a point in bringing me here? Or did you just want to annoy the fuck outta me?"

Rumple tapped his chin then wiggled his fingers. "Most from column A. A little from column B. And this is just a regularly scheduled check-in to make sure the universe is still holding together with idiots like you running throughout the Multi-Verse."

I scoffed at him. I wasn't going to cause the universe to explode or some shit. And I sure as hell didn't need this fuck popping up whenever the hell he wants. Rumple was insane. I would not trust anything he said or did. He had to have some other motive. He seemed powerful-hungry to not have one.

"So, Rumple, I'm here; the universe is fine right now. Can I go back to sleep?" I said, annoyed.

"So you can dream about a certain brown-haired marine?"

"The fuck are you going on about?"

He swirled his drink in his hand before answering. "You know that little feeling inside your chest while you were talking to her? I think more sentimental beings call that 'love'?"

I stared at him before bursting out in laughter. It was a solid thirty second before I regained my composure. "You're saying I have, what, developed feelings for my commander? That's a good one, Rumple. Fuckin' golden!"

"Say what you will, dearie. Doesn't change what you feel inside."

"And you suddenly care?"

Rumple let out his typical insane giggle. "Hardly. I simply mentioned it because I knew it would bother you." He pulling out a pocket watch with a golden chain and checked the time. "Well, it looks to be go time, dearie. Bye!"

…

My eyes opened up to the glass door of my sleeper pod. Several crew members were getting out of theirs to start their shifts…

 _That fuck kept me in the Dream State all night?! I'm gonna fuckin' castrate that bastard with a hot, rusty butter knife. You don't fuck with a man's sleep!_

Figuring I wasn't going to get any more sleep, not with Feros coming up within a few hours, I got out of my pod and stretched. Oddly, I felt completely rest despite being in the Dream State for… ten minutes? Interesting.

 _Well, time to get ready to kill the ugliest fucking plant. Ever. Period._

…

 _ **A/N: Well, Mikhailovich is a dick, Rumple is still a dick, and Feros will be up next. What fun!**_

 _ **I hoped you enjoyed. Leave a review if you did. Maybe even follow and/or favorite. It would be much appreciated.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	10. Chapter 10 Arrival to Feros

_**A/N: I would like to start off by apologizing for the delay of this chapter. I had a bit of a writer's block that piled on top of busy life of the end of high school. But I am now a high school graduate! My graduation was… boring. But I got the diploma.**_

 _ **Now, this story has over 5000 views and nearly 90 followers! I think that's fucking insane! I honestly thought this story would do shit. So, I thank anyone who has viewed, followed, left a review or a favorite. That stuff really motivates me to get writing more.**_

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

…

My biotics glowed around me while I waited by the airlock, helmet being held in the crook of my right arm. A small Warp orb was floating in my left hand, its surface deforming slightly. The idea came to me while I was getting my armor on: 'Hey! I wonder if I can channel a Warp to my finger tips and climb shit!'. It had been six minutes so far as I tried to accomplish just that. My concentration was apparent as my biotics was giving off a deep blue color as opposed to the light blue of being calm.

Footsteps approached, and I glanced up.

"Hey, Liara," I said to the asari, who was donned in a set of light armor with a Predator pistol at her side. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Uh, certainly," she replied, standing a bit stiffly at the other side of the airlock door. She looked down at the Warp in my hand. "But what are you doing?"

"That's what I wanted to ask you. Is it possible to like… surround your fingers in a Warp field? Doing that may make it possible to climb without any special equipment."

"Definitely. Asari commandos are trained to perform such a thing, but channeling your biotics to be that precise takes years of practice and train— Oh, you got it…"

I looked up at her with this large, stupid grin, holding up my hand to show that I managed to get the Warp to shift and wrap around the tips of my fingers on that hand. "Ah, the beauty of having two amps."

Liara's blue eyes went wide at that. "You have two biotic amps? How have they not fired your brain. An asari having two amps with be quite dangerous, let alone a human."

With a shrug, I said, "Honestly, I have no idea how I got them. Maybe when I got shot, the blood loss cause a bit of memory loss… or something."I knew that wasn't the truth though. The two amps were Rumple's doing. Or his 'Boss' required him to do that. I had no idea. But there was also the modifications, the bone weave and all…

"Hi, Daniel. Liara."

Tali walked towards us from the back of the ship, Pressly oh-so subtly moving as far away as possible. Then again, a little quarian female walks by with a shotgun, I would move the fuck out of the way as well. Not that Pressly is a bad guy; his attitude towards aliens is a lingering effect from the First Contact War.

 _Another person on my list to try and save._

"Hey, Tali." "Hello." Liara and I greeted in unison.

"What were you just doing with your biotics?" the quarian asked.

"Just trying to see in I can use them to scale surfaces. So far, results appear most promising." _Actually, speaking of surfaces… could I use my biotics to wall-run? Oh, I am so going to find out._

"That sounds… interesting."

Boots clanking off metal stairs caught my attention, and Shepard marched up the steps in some dark blue armor she bought on the Citadel. An upgraded Mantis was attached to her back while a new pistol was situated on her hip. Also, as usual, her hair was up in a ponytail—a single strand loose, running along the side of her head. She looked nice…

 _Shit, maybe Rumple was rig- Nope! Nope! Don't go down that road of thinking, Ironwill. That bastard only said what he did last night to annoy you… and now I'm talking to myself like a separate person. That's just greeaaat._

"Look who decided to join the party," I said as she got close. "Women and their make-up."

Shepard narrowed her eyes at me. "I'm barely wearing any, Ironwill."

"So you are wearing make-up. Does it have any combat boosts? Because I don't think the geth or Saren are going to care how you look as you shoot at them."

She simply shook her head and walked up to Joker, but I could tell she wanted to smile. But with that, I grabbed my helmet with both hands and slid it over my head, closing it after.

"Commander, no one's responding to our hails," I heard Joker say to her as he flew the _Normandy_ closer to Zhu's Hope.

"Take us in anyway, Joker."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

I checked my Phalanx as he brought the ship in to dock. The slight shake meant that we were docked. The vitals of Shepard, Liara, and Tali displayed on my HUD as the airlock opened and we piled in. To get my blood flowing for the upcoming firefight, I started bouncing on my feet lightly. It earned a questioning look from the others, but Shepard just shrugged while the other two simply accepted what I was doing. Finally, I realized something as I took one final glance at the others as the ship VI announced that Pressly had the deck: I was the only male on the ground team.

 _Well, this should be fun._

Shepard led the way out of the docking tube… thing, stopping briefly when she spotted that guy that always gets turned into paste by a geth rocket. _Not today though._

The place was eerie, though. The place didn't look eerie per say, it just _felt_ like it. It looked like it would crumble at any moment. Feros felt like a place that no life should be on anymore. Dust clogged the air you breathed. The air had a chill to it, and wind could be head from outside like a roaring hurricane. Its prime had long past. Let the ghosts of the protheans have it now.

"We saw your ship land," the colonist said. His eyes had this distant look in them, and his movements were sluggish. "Fai Dan would like to speak to you immediately."

My hand went to my pistol as we all walked a bit hesitantly toward the guy. Narrowed eyes scanned the area behind him as I prepped myself to activate my biotics. Actually, I planned to simply charge at him and tackle the poor man. Better that taking a rocket to the back and becoming red chucks all over the walkway.

"Who's Fai Dan?" Shepard asked.

"He is the leader of the colony. The geth are making another push. We've been able to keep them back. Go up those stairs, they'll lead you to Fai Dan." He went to turn and point to the stairs he mentioned, but even with his not-all-there actions, his eyes widened as he saw a rocket flying towards him. I was already on the move.

I charged into the colonist, tackling him. The rocket whizzed by overhead, and I popped up with my Phalanx in hand and aimed at the geth. Four rounds left the barrel on my pistol before I completely adjusted my aim. The geth rocket trooper stood up again only to have its head ripped apart by a sniper round by Shepard.

A Singularity was thrown and sucked up three geth. With a smirk, I launched a Warp. The explosion that followed gained a little shout of excitement from me as geth part flew, some hitting the hull of the _Normandy_.

 _God, I love biotics._

Things quickly quieted down after the booming report from Tali shotgun that torn through the last geth. With a twirl using the trigger guard, I holstered my pistol and stood up.

"You saved me…" the colonist muttered from the ground next to me. I helped him up and dusted off his shoulder, more for looks than anything. "Thank you…"

"No problem," I said then turned to Shepard. "What's the plan, Commander?"

"You take point. Liara and Tali will cover the sides while I hang back with my rifle," she said, looking toward the stairway the colonist indicated. Shepard then looked over at said colonist. "Hey. You stay here until we make sure a path is clear back to the colony. Okay?"

He nodded slowly. "Speak to Fai Dan…"

 _God damn Thorian…_

My biotics glowed brightly right before I charged down the concrete walkway. I rounded the corner and kept going until I got to the door leading to the stairs before peeking my head around the corner. I saw nothing. Heard nothing. But I knew better. There was a clusterfuck of geth waiting for us. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. There were about two geth hoppers in game. Now, in the tower on the other side, that's where the clusterfuck of geth were. So, I guess I wasn't wrong with saying a clusterfuck of geth await us.

Looking back to the group, I said, "Move up."

They did so. When they reached where I was, I made my way through the doorway. Now, just from the sight of things in there, Zhu's Hope was hit harder than what was implied in games. Bullet holes littered the walls. There were a few spots of nearly dried blood. It probably looked worst in the actual colony.

The sound of geth chittering reached my ears. I held up a fist to signal for the others to halt. As expected to me, and to the surprise of the others, a geth hopper jumped down to the top of the stairs in front of us. I got down in a crouch, letting the others behind me get a clear shot as well. The combined fire of five individuals took down the hopper _hard_.

 _Ain't no kill like overkill._

I got back up and continued forward. There was going to be another one of those annoying bastards around here. But where?

The turn to the in the stairs brought me to the sight of a hopper just chilling on the steps. Instantly, it was enveloped in a field of dark energy and lifted into the air. The others made the same turn in the stairs to the sight of me holding the hopper in the air.

"Look what I caught, Commander," I said in cheery tone. Despite that, I was actually having to focus a bit more, causing my biotics to turn a deep blue. The hopper was struggling in the biotic field, making it harder to hold it. "Can I keep him?"

"No," she said blankly.

"Aw man!" I closed my fingers into a fist. The sound of a hopper being completely crushed by biotics into a tight ball wasn't the most lovely sound in the world, but it was damn satisfying!

"Daniel, keeping a live geth on the ship would not have been a safe option had she said yes," Liara said.

"I was joking, Liara," I said kindly.

"Oh. I see. We should continue onwards then."

Nodding, I led the group. It was the same path as it was in the game. As we got closer to the doorway that led outside, I could faintly smell something burning. There were fires in Zhu's Hope in game. That must be what it was.

Rounding the final corner, the sight of makeshift cover and poorly armed colonist greeted us. They were on edge and terrified, dusty and dirty. So much so, that one of them fired a shot when I came into sight. Luckily, the round went very wide and slammed into the wall.

I looked at the spot the round hit, to the colonist, back to the spot, and back to the colonist again. "Hello to you too."

"Oh my god!" He said, obviously feeling terrible that he shot at me. "I am so, so sorry! We've all been on edge and-"

I held up a hand to stop him. "It's fine. I understand. But I would appreciate if you didn't shoot at me again."

"Making friends, Ironwill?" Shepard asked as she came up from my left.

"I always try."

"Well, you can have time later to make friends. We gotta find this Fai Dan guy."

Shepard took the lead then. I ended up at the back of the group as I walked slowly to take in the sights. They were not pleasant. I thought the stairway made it look bad. The main area of the colony had it much _worse_. Bullet holes riddle almost every damn surface I could see. Debris laid everywhere like a blanket in some areas, some of it still burning from a recent attack. The people we walked by had a downcast expression. A few were even trying to hide tears, attempting to appear strong in the face of tragedy. The woman who worked on the water system threw her tools on the ground in frustration. But the worst sight had to be the multiple body bags in rows upon rows I saw towards the center of the colony.

A stench of decay hung over that area like an invisible cloud. A woman stood over one body bag with tears streaming down her dust-covered face that created streaks going down towards her chin. Down the row was a salarian on his knees. He had his head down with his hands behind his head as he rocked back and forth. The sight caused a pang of sadness to form in my chest.

I knew they got hit hard, but this? This was awful. Sickening even. And on top of it all, ExoGeni was using them as test subjects as they observed the Thorian. That pissed me off. I was going to throttle that fucker we meet later on. What the hell was his name? Jing or some shit?

"Hey, Daniel? You okay?"

I blinked and looked at who spoke. It was Ash, and she had a concern look on her face. Actually, behind her, everyone else looked concern. Well, I couldn't see Tali's face, but she was tapping her fingers together in a manner that suggested she was concerned.

"Yeah," I said, glancing back at the bodies. "But I'm gonna turn every geth we see into atoms."

"Well, get those flashlight heads soon enough. Saren too."

"You're damn right."

We finally made our way to where Fai Dan was on the other side of the building in center of the colony. He was talking to the bitchy woman from the game. What was her name again? Eh, it didn't matter. She was a bitch, and I didn't like her. Anyway, Fai Dan had his hand on his forearm in an exhausted manner. When he looked up, and he looked old with his weathered face made even more weathered looking by what the colony had to deal with, his face brightened up slightly.

"Oh, Commander," he said with a sigh of relief. "I'm glad they finally sent somebody to help us."

"You're a bit late, aren't you?" Bitch-tits to the side said. She spoke with even more bitchiness than what was in the game. Bitch…

Fai Dan gave her a look. "Arcelia! Sorry, Commander. Everyone's on edge since-." He was interrupted by the synthetic chattering of geth from the nearby tower.

"Watch out! We've got geth in the tower!"

"Protect the heart of the colony!"

 _Time to show these colonists how professionals deal with geth._

We all had our weapons out the instant we heard the geth. Shepard used the large chuck of debris Fai Dan was standing near as cover. My cover was that metal barrier that faced the direction of that tunnel the geth were coming from. Ash found a spot right next to me, doing a quick check of her Avenger rifle. I spotted Tali pressed along that same chuck of stone Shepard was using as cover.

Now, I wasn't sure how intelligent the geth were in combat, but coming down a narrow tunnel to several individuals with guns was not the best idea. I mean, the three or four geth that came down it were simply reduced to scrap. It was too easy. No wonder Saren loses. His foot soldiers were idiots!

"Push in!" Shepard called out. "Same formation as before!"

Hopping over my cover, I charged down the tunnel. A geth came around the turn as I reached the other side of the tunnel. It was hit with a Throw, its back denting inwards as it came in contact with the wall. Before it could get up, Shepard came by and landed a quick shot to its head with her sniper, its synthetic white 'blood' spattering the wall behind it.

Gunfire came from up the steps. I took off up them two at a time. A colonist taking cover at the top screamed. "Don't let me die!" he could be heard yelling. The aura of dark energy around me glowed brightly as I jumped up and charged to the top of the steps. At the top, I threw up a biotic wall. A rocket slammed into it and sent me into the large stone the colonist was using as cover. A grunt of pain escaped my lips upon contact, and I fell to the floor. Several rounds from my Phalanx were fired down through the doorway at the geth before I moved out of the way of the bullets.

The rest of the team came up the steps. Tali and Ash took out the geth shock trooper and his normal buddy as I leaned against the wall in pain. My damn back ached. I was pretty sure it was bruised heavily at the very least.

Shepard kneeled down in front of me, placing a hand on my shoulder as Liara told the scared colonist to head back to the colony. "Ironwill, you okay?"

I groaned a bit. "Never better. It felt like I was just slammed into a rock, though. Oh, wait. I was."

She rolled her eyes at me but had a smile to go with the eye roll. "You're fine, you idiot."

"That I somewhat am. Fine, that is. I'm always an idiot." There was faint geth chatter deeper in the tower. "We should get going." I stood up and twisted my back. Four or five cracks could be heard clearly down my spine as I did that. Tali and Liara seemed to find that unpleasant to hear. I picked up my combat knife after. It had fallen out of my grasp when I hit the stone.

The team moved through the building with the same formation we had been using. The geth chatter was coming from the place it was supposed to. I led the way inside the room.

When I spotted the amount of geth in the room, I shouted, "Cover. Quick!"

We all scrambled to find cover as the geth began shooting. I when up the slope to the left, along with Shepard. The other three stayed on the lower level. Shepard took a potshot at a shock trooper that ripped through its chest. I launched a Shockwave down at two geth that was powerful enough to knock them down to the lower level where the three females down there took them out. I had to duck into cover as the geth sniper in the very back began shooting in my direction. I switched my pistol out for my M16. Popping out of cover, two, three-round bursts were sent the sniper's way. It was a bit too far to get a good enough shot as it zeroed in on my again.

There was a loud report of a sniper but not the geth. Shepard when back into cover to let her rifle cool.

"You're clear, Private," she said before turning out of cover and firing again, hitting another geth trooper again.

As we thought we were almost finished with the geth, there was a faint hum that progressively got loud. When the hum was at an apex, more geth dropped in from the holes in the ceiling. It was a damn dropship. How could I have forgotten that?

"Destroyer!" Tali yelled.

"Focus on the rest," I told everyone. "The big one is mine."

I switched back to my Phalanx and readied my biotics. The rest of the team did what I wanted them to; they distracted the grunts and freed up the Destroyer for me. Jumping over my cover, the distance between the Destroyer and me was closed up with a biotic charge. Catching the thing off-guard briefly, I slashed at its knee area with my combat knife. Whatever I sliced through was important because the geth dropped to one knee. It tried to swing at me with its shotgun. The move was easily dodged as I moved to get behind it. I reared my left arm back and thrusted it forward, my knife jamming into its neck. It gave a synthetic soft of cry of pain as I pulled the knife free. Right before I was going to finish it though, the Destroyer's head snapped to the side as a mass accelerator round tore through it.

"You were taking too long," Shepard cheekily said with a smirk when I looked for who killed it.

I gave her a look that she couldn't see. "That's twice today you have stolen a kill from me."

She just responded with a big smile before addressing the whole team. "Alright, that seems to have been all of them. Let's head back to the colony."

We made our way back to the colony at a slight jog. Geth parts were scattered all over in the path we took. It was like a trail of breadcrumbs leading back to Zhu's Hope. Maybe I should take some parts with me, so I can get that hole Legion gets repaired properly, because I sure as hell didn't intend for Shepard to die. That means Legion can't use Shepard's N7 armor to patch himself up.

Back at the colony, Shepard began speaking to Fai Dan. I decided that I didn't need to hear what was being said. I knew what needed to be done, but I kept within the range their voices went so Shepard didn't have to explain it to me herself. So, I just sort of walked around in a random path not far away from the other. My hand stayed near my pistol on my hip; who knows when the Universe might surprise us with another geth attack. It was during this walking that a colonist walked up to me.

"Sir, you're that human biotic with the Commander, right?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yep. That's me. Why do you ask?"

"You saved me back in the tower. I don't know what I could ever do to repay you for that."

"You don't have to do anything. It's what we do. I'm just glad you're safe and sound."

The man smiled at me then shook my hand and said thank you once again before leaving. That made me feel good, though. I had managed to save two people who died in the games, even if they were very, _very_ minor individuals. Still, they were actually people here. But the list of people I needed to save was a long one, and I was only one person.

"Ironwill," Shepard hollered. "You hear all that?"

I started listing what I said with my fingers. "Power, water, food, geth. Right?"

She smiled. "Good dog. We might get you house-trained in no time."

"Ha ha. I though I was supposed to be the sarcastic one here."

Ash laughed. "Sarcastic? More like you're the ass in the group."

"Do you think a time for jokes should come later?" Liara spoke up.

Ash glanced at her out the corner of her eye before looking back at the Commander. "The Doctor is right, Commander. We should figure out what we are going to do. I suggest we split up. Three go down in the tunnels, three go to ExoGeni after calling someone from the ship."

Nodding, Shepard said, "That is a good plan, but I would like to be here when the colony's issues are fixed. We can split up in the tunnels. Two deal with the water and power. The rest will deal with the geth and food. Sound like a plan?" When we all agreed, she clapped her hands. "Alright. Let's get moving then. Ironwill, take point."

With a nod and taking out my Phalanx, I moved back into the tower and searched for the stairs leading down. I could never remember where exactly they were when I played the games, so it took me longer than it should have. But I found the stairs and led the way down.

As I went down the stairs, I made sure to stay alert. Geth were supposed to be on the stairs leading down. Oddly though, we came across none. Not that I was complaining though. It could just mean that there were more geth in the tunnels.

Reaching the bottom of the steps, we took a left that opened up to the tunnels. Down there was musty and the air felt like it was choking me even through the filters of my helmet. And tunnels themselves were different than in the game. The area opened up to a walkway that circled a center area that was fenced off from a deep drop. The ceiling above had several holes that let light filter in. Said light revealed beams of dust. Anyone with allergies, asthma, or anything similar would be fucked down here.

"Right or left, Shepard?" I asked, holding position while I glanced through the fence and down the drop.

"Left," she replied as she walked up next to me. "The right side is blocked by rubble. We wouldn't get far."

I looked over and saw that she was right. That side was blocked off at the turn with a large pile of rubble. "Huh, left it is then."

"Williams, Tali—you two water and power. Everyone else with me. We'll deal with the food and geth problems. Move out!" Shepard said. And we did as we were told. Liara, Shepard and I pushed forward first.

The Commander took point now as we went down the walkway. There was a turn off that led into actual tunnels. That was went we met our first few geth down there. The moment Shepard spotted them, she ordered us into cover. We did so without any complaint. I didn't want to take a bullet to the chest, and I doubt Liara wanted to either.

I went to peek around the little alcove I took cover in to only have to jerk back into cover as a bullet nearly hit me in the head. Shepard popped out of cover and took a single shot of her rifle before being forced back into cover herself. There were too many geth in the short corridor. We needed crowd control and none of us had shotguns. Until an idea formed.

"Liara!" I shouted over the gunfire. "Get a Singularity down there!"

A nod was all I got before she began to glow with purple energy and threw a mini black hole down the corridor. I knew it worked when the gunfire lessened, but a round clipped my slightly exposed before I acted. My biotics flared red.

"Alright, assholes," I said to myself. I spun around and launched Warp down at the geth. It hit one of them caught Liara's Singularity. Since biotic combos were able to happen here, my Warp set off a chain reaction. Six geth caught in a Singularity and a Warp getting thrown in the works created quite the explosion. Hell, I was pretty sure a geth finger grazed my leg as part were spewed about.

 _Now I can do what I do best._

Biotics got brighter right before I was sent charging down the corridor. My omni-blade was sent through the head of one of the disoriented geth troopers. Pulling my Phalanx off from its place, a second geth took three rounds to the chest. I was about to whirl around on a third when a force slammed into my back and sent me sprawling on the ground. Rolling over, my pistol sights were leveled on the flashlight head of the bastard that shot me with a damn shotgun. I felt that warm tingle near my amps again. The geth's head jerked to the side as a sniper round tore through it.

I blew air out of my nose. My anger wasn't sated, but I tried to calm myself.

Shepard rushed into my view. "Ironwill! You okay?"

Taking another breath, I nodded. "Yeah, I'm good." Picking up my gun, I got to my feet and rolled my shoulders. "Let's roll."

The comm crackled to life then.

" _Commander, we found the power cell_ ," Ash's voice came through.

Shepard held up a hand for us to wait. "Good job, Williams. You too, Tali. Proceed to the water valves."

" _Actually, ma'am, we had to go through a pack of nasty looking varren to get it. That solves the colony's food issue as well._ "

"Copy that. We'll deal with the water and geth. You two get back to the colony to give them that power cell."

" _Copy, Commander. Williams out._ "

Shepard looked at Liara and I. "Now let's get going."

We pushed out of that little side tunnel and back onto the main walkway. A bridge that went to the other side was right there. Going onward, the water valves could be seen. My guess was that the geth were across the bridge.

I tapped Shepard on the shoulder. "I got the water. You two check out what's over that bridge."

"Alright, Ironwill. Just don't break anything," she said with a smirk.

"Ha ha."

I charged to the valves. It looked easy. A few dials and a switch on each one. My fingers hovered over the switch of the first one before finally just flicking it up. A light on the side turned green. I did the same with the other two. It was literally the easiest thing I did so far on the mission.

Gunfire could be heard from were Shepard and Liara went. I pulled my combat knife out of it sheathe and took off at a sprint. Rounding a final turn I found those two taking cover as two geth and a krogan took shots at them.

 _Enough of that though._

Biotically charging, I made it pass Shepard and Liara. I tried using the momentum to keep going at a sprint, but my dumb ass tripped, _tripped_ , over a piece of rubble. I fell and rolled pass the krogan at the back and slammed into the back wall. A geth came out of a door to my right and aimed at my head with its rifle. I casually hit it with a shockwave that sent it flying into the ceiling. The sound it made as it crumpled into itself was pleasant to me. Unfortunately, I couldn't relax after that as another krogan came out of the door the geth just came from.

Big, bad, and ugly let out a roar as he charged at me. Jumping to my feet, a quick roll barely got me out of the way in time. The krogan whipped around with his shotgun in hand and fired at me. I couldn't dodge that and took the full brunt of the blast of buckshot to the chest. My back slammed against the wall behind me as my shields shattered. Looking up, I couldn't help but shout "Oh shit!" as the krogan charged at me again. This time though was a successful charge as he pinned me against the wall with his forearm by my neck.

I was then given a close up view of the inside of a shotgun barrel.

"Time to die, pyjak," the krogan rumbled with a smirk.

 _Well… shit._

…

Shepard rose out of cover and fired off a round from her sniper. It ripped through the head of a geth shock trooper. It was one of four that came out of the doorway after the second krogan. The shock trooper was also the last hostile except for the krogan Ironwill was dealing with.

"Time to die, pyjak."

The owner of the voice was found… pinning the private to the wall and leveling a shotgun to his head. Shepard's heart dropped at the sight.

"Ironwill!" she shouted and began raising her rifle.

Just then, Ironwill's biotics came up, but the color was a deep red. She saw his omni-tool come online and shift into a long blade. He moved quickly and jammed the tip of the blade under the krogan's browplate, just like he did on Therum. There was a sound of flesh ripping as Ironwill popped the plate of. The krogan screamed, and not a typical roar of anger; this scream was more high-pitched and held pain beyond imagine. Ironwill kicked the leg out from under the krogan when he was let go, dropping the krogan to his knees as he continued to wail. He then picked up the shotgun and held it above his head with both hands, barrel pointed behind him. Then he brought the butt of the gun down of the exposed skull of the krogan. Then again and again. Until the krogan fell over, dead.

"Daniel?" Liara tentatively asked. "Are you okay?"

He looked up with a swift movement of his head. Blood had splattered on his armor and dripped from the gun he still held. Shepard compared the sight to something from a horror film. Then suddenly his biotics faded and he dropped the gore-covered shotgun.

"I'm right as rain," he said, but there was something in his voice that said the opposite. "So, let's destroy this geth… thing, or whatever it is." Ironwill made his way through the only available door that proceeded forward.

Shepard motioned for Liara to go ahead first. The asari did, taking a wide berth from the krogan with a puddle a blood that had now formed around his head. The N7 commander took a glance at the body before moving to catch up with her companions, but the more she witnessed Ironwill's… outbursts, the more she grew concerned for him.

…

 _ **A/N: So, that was the FIRST part of Feros. I could have made it one long chapter, but it would have gotten boring to read after a while. So, I split it up. The other half should be up within a week or two, and that half should be more exciting than this one.**_

 _ **So, if you liked this, leave a review, follower and/or a favorite. I really enjoy getting those.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	11. Chapter 11 ExoGeni Building

_**A/N: I am so sosossosososossosso sorry for how long it took me to get this chapter out. First, I didn't know how to start the chapter out. I had to rewrite the first thousand words about 3 times because I didn't like it. I had writer's block. I began another story that took my attention for a bit. My friend wanted to hang out a lot since he is moving soon. But I finally got this done.**_

 _ **So… over 100 follows. Jesus H. Fuck! How the hell did that happen? Anyway, thanks for that. I didn't think I would get even 1 follow. So that's a confidence booster.**_

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

 _ **...**_

It was not easy telling the difference between filtered air and the air on Feros, but when you are lost in thought, it is. Dust practically clung to the air, grating on the inside of your lungs with each breath you took on the planet. I truly noticed it as I sat with my back against the prefab in the colony. My chest ached when I breathed. I honestly thought I was going to have an asthma attack like when I was a kid.

But my problem was my… anger, I guess. Actually, it's whatever the two amps are doing inside my head. For some reason, it's like they effect me when I get angry. I snap easier now. But when I get really pissed, I black out. That's what happened back in the tunnels. One moment I have a krogan's shotgun in my face, the next moment I'm holding his shotgun covered in his blood. It was worrying. I played it off like I was fine, though. I don't think Shepard or Liara bought it, but they had yet to comment on it. Which was fine by me.

I heard boots clanging on metal from the steps outside the prefab. Shepard was rounding the corner with the rest of them. Fai Dan had went inside while we were gone, so she had to track him down when we got back. I guessed she was done now, which meant we would be on our way to ExoGeni. What fun that would be. Geth, krogan, and a geth ship all in one place.

"Ready to get rolling?" I asked as I stood up.

"Right you are, Ironwill," Shepard answered. "Fai Dan informed me of an old Mako down in the garage. Come on. I'll lead the way."

"No one is gonna stay and guard the colony?" Ash asked.

"Won't be a need for it if all of the geth are coming for us. We'll just have to make sure we make a big enough distraction," I said.

Shepard crossed her arms and leaned a little to her right foot. "As much as I hate to admit it, Ironwill's right."

"Why do you hate to admit I'm right?"

"Because it's you," she said with a smirk.

With a huff, I crossed my arms in an exaggerated manner. "I don't feel like a valued member of this team."

She rolled her eyes at my antics and shook her head. "Just get moving."

Like she said, Shepard led the way back into the tower and to an old elevator. The five of us piled in and took the excruciatingly slow ride down. I mean really. Even prothean elevators were slow? That's bullshit. Someone should file a complain. There are no loading screens here, so why should the rides be slow?

The slow ride down eventually ended. When the doors opened, the sight of a few colonists trying to fight three geth drones welcomed us. In a split moment, they were all taken down. Shepard put a single round through the one from her sniper. Tali shotgunned the second. I simply reached out with my biotics and crushed the last one. As we walked pass the two colonist, I said "Amateurs" over my shoulder.

The Mako here looked in tough shape. The paint was faded to hell. Rust dotted the surface of the tank. The massive tires were all different looking. I ran my hand over it and paint chipped off. Somehow there was even a big dent on the thing. How the fuck do you dent a Mako? It's a Mako. It doesn't dent easily.

"Is walking an option?" Tali tentatively asked at the sight of the poor thing.

"Unfortunately not, Tali," Shepard said. "We're on a tight schedule. Everyone get in. Williams, I want you on the turret. I'm driving."

I made a sound that make it clear I was not happy she was driving. "Didn't we want to make it to the building _alive?_ "

"Can it, Ironwill, or I'll tape you to the back of this thing."

"That may actually be safer than riding inside. Can I pick that option?"

"Just get in the tank."

I gave a casual two finger salute before opening the door and hopping in. Tali took up navigation next to Shepard, so it was just Liara and me in the back while Ash manned the main gun. Not that I was complaining about sitting next to a beautiful blue alien.

The garage door opened and I leaned forward to get a look out of the windshield. My eyes widened at the sight of the length of the skyway. It was _waaaaaaayy_ longer than in the game. Guess that makes sense. It is supposed to be a highway… in the sky.

 _Time to get some rest._

I took off my helmet and leaned back in my seat. This mission was getting tiring, and it wasn't even finished yet. The hunt for Saren as a whole wasn't even halfway done yet. I was gonna feel like I was eighty after the Citadel battle.

"Are you okay, Daniel?" Liara asked me as Shepard began to peel out of the garage.

"I'm fine, Liara," I said. "Just gonna rest a bit. The mission has been long so far, and I don't think it'll get any easier. Thanks for asking though. You should take this time to rest up a little as well."

She nodded. "I believe I may."

The conversation ended at that. I closed my eyes and just listened to the sound of Ash firing the main gun and the Mako's engines. Oddly, it was soothing. Even the rockets and bullets pelting the shield's of the tank… If I found that soothing, there was definitely something wrong with me.

It had to of been three or so minutes later when I noticed something odd. The shaking of the Mako, the sound of it's engines, and the sound of the main gun firing stopped at the same time. I opened my eyes and looked around.

Liara was staring forward blankly, not moving. Leaning up to look at Shepard and Tali, they both weren't moving either. I took a guess and said Ash wasn't either. Then I looked out the windshield.

Stood in the center of the skyway was Rumple.

My biotics flared on their own. When he gave me a little wave, I went to the left door, opened it, and leaned out.

"What the fuck do you want?" I yelled as I hung out the door. Rumple was a good five or ten yards ahead of the Mako.

He let out one of those annoying chuckles. "Just stopping by to see how this mission is going for you, dearie."

"It's going fine. Now you can go."

Rumple shook his head. "Now that's the thing. It has been going almost _too_ fine." I narrowed my eyes at him. "I believe you need a challenge." A small notepad literally appeared in his hand. "Now what should it be. Eight krogan? No. Platoon of geth? Nope. Ah! I got it!"

He wrote something down on the pad. A moment later, a geth dropship flew overhead and dropped a folded Colossus behind a large pile of rubble to hide it.

"Shit" was all I could say to that.

"Well, ta-ta, dearie." With a snap of his fingers, Rumple disappeared in a swirl of black smoke… and time also unfroze.

The Colossus unfolded, allowing it to see over the rubble. It charged up its main weapon and fired at the Mako. Since I was still hanging out of the door, I was sent flying out when Shepard swerved to avoid the ball of plasma. When Rumple froze time, Shepard had been close to the edge of the skyway… which was where I was about to go over.

Remembering the grappling hook Av gave me, I aimed the best I could and hoped it latched onto the Mako as I fired it. It wasn't until I passed the edge of the skyway that the cord became taut and I was jerked back up and over the edge. I rolled a few times before finally stopping on my back.

There was no time for a breather as the Colossus set its sights on me. I rolled and scrambled to my feet. The blast behind me nearly threw me off my feet, but I was able to run into cover. Seeing as a pistol wouldn't work well, I readied my M16 and took a quick breather. I didn't even have my helmet. It was still in the damn tank.

Peering over my cover, I let loose two bursts at the giant machine. It harmlessly bounced off its shields, but it drew its attention to me. I stood up and biotically charged out of the way. Several more bursts from my rifle were sent its way before I charged away. I basically kept its attention on me as Ash used the Mako's gun to bring the thing down.

After the Colossus went down, I walked over to where Shepard had pulled up and climbed back in through the door I flew out of.

"Ironwill, what the hell were you thinking?!" were the words the greeted me.

"I'm fine guys, thanks for asking," I quipped as I sat in my seat.

"Answer the question, soldier," Shepard ordered.

 _Fuck, I had to make something up_. "I spotted the top of the Colossus. I was gonna jump out and distract it, but it fired on us first. The rest is history."

"Stay seated until we get to ExoGeni."

 _I'm gonna kill Rumple in the most brutal way I can think of_.

It wasn't long after until we picked up the radio chatter from the ExoGeni survivors. Shepard turned off of the road and parked by the entrance way to where they were set up.

"Okay, everyone out," Shepard said. When she saw that I was getting my helmet on, she added, "Expect you, Private."

"What? Why?" I questioned.

"For that little stunt back on the skyway. You will remain in the Mako until we reach the ExoGeni building, and that's an order."

I couldn't argue. She said it was an order. I couldn't question my commanding officer, especially when she was using her "I'm in charge, so you better listen" voice. So, all I did was sigh and leaned back in my seat.

Shepard at least left the comms on so I could hear the conversations with ExoGeni survivors. The Jeong guy was sounding like a massive prick, which he was, but even more so than what was depicted in the game. Or maybe I was just annoyed at everything since Rumple showed himself and dropped a damn Colossus in our path.

Rumple was a punk ass bitch.

 _Hmm, maybe I should call him that from now on._

I was knocked from my thoughts when the Mako door opened and the team climbed back in.

"I kept the car nice and warm for you guys while you were out," I commented in my typical sarcastic way.

"How nice of you," Ash replied. "Now only if you could learn to keep your mouth shut." She flashed me a smirk before manning the main gun again.

"Ha ha. Very funny, Ash. Shepard, let's just get this show on the road."

What I got was the Commander pulling out of there at full throttle. While the Mako was a tank, it was fast as hell. Might have something to do with the six wheels. That had to be it.

It wasn't long after when Shepard pulled up to a sort of doorway that was too narrow for the Mako to fit through. That was after all the bumpy roads, terrible driving, and shouts of incoming fire of course. But we were close now. I even spotted the geth ship attached to the side of the building as we were on approach. It looked too connected to the building to be a threat.

The Commander ordered everyone out of the tank. I slid my helmet on and closed it. The area was dimly lit and littered with debris. It was eerily quiet, too. I didn't like it. That's why I pulled my M16 from my back. The poor thing hasn't seen much use so far anyway.

Shepard took point. While she looked relax on first glance, I could tell she was ready for a fight. It was in the subtle was her head turned side to side. The way her index finger twitched towards the trigger of her sniper every so often. She knew the area didn't feel right. We had plowed through geth defenses on the skyway. There should be a welcoming party here since the geth HQ was right next to us.

"I don't like it," Tali announced in a low voice. "It's too quiet."

"Same here," I said.

Liara was behind me, so I looked back at her. When I did, I saw a red dot hovering over her heart. Biotics enveloped me as I charged to her and moved her out of the way. It was just in time, too, as a sniper round slammed into the wall behind where Liara was.

"Cover! Now!"

Everyone else scrambled to cover as geth began popping out of the woodwork. I took Liara behind a decaying pillar and peered around it. My quick count was three hoppers, two snipers, ten geth troopers, five shock troopers, and a single Destroyer. Fuck us, right?

"You okay?" I asked our asari squadmate.

She nodded. "I am. Thank you, Daniel."

A rocket flew passed our cover and exploded near where Ash was. _I guess I missed the rocket trooper._ "Thank me by setting up some Singularities."

The asari acknowledged my request by doing just that. She threw two mini black holes into the fray. I spun out of cover, dropping to one knee as I let loose a Warp. The explosion from the one Singularity was large enough to ignite the other. That took down six troopers, sending their parts flying all over.

I took two shots before I stood and dashed to cover myself. A section of the roof that had fallen was a good spot. I covered the last few feet by sliding on my knees. A round striking the top of the cover near my head made me flinch down. There had to be an easy way to clear these guys out.

"Hey, Shepard!" I called out.

"What!" She yelled back after ducking behind her cover.

"Got any grenades on you?"

She gave me this look as if asking why I would ask such a random question like that. Nevertheless, she reached down and detached a grenade from her belt. "I'm kinda not in the best position to throw these."

"Toss me two."

"Ironwill… what are you planning?"

"Just give me two grenades, and get ready to cover my on my signal."

Reluctantly, she tossed over two grenades. I clipped them to my belt and put my M16 back on my back. With a breath, I readied myself. This plan I quickly devised would either work well… or get me killed. Either way, there was only one way to find out.

I vaulted over my cover and closed the gap between me and the geth with a biotic charge into a group of geth on the right side. Coming out of the charge, I punched the first geth in front of me in its little flashlight eye before putting my arm around its neck and using it as a shield. Taking one grenade off my belt, I activated it and dropped it at my feet. A hard push sent my robot shield into one of his comrades. A biotic charge got me away from the grenade and to the other side of the room where the rest of the geth were concentrated.

I tackled a geth trooper to the ground as the first grenade detonated. I took the second grenade and jammed it into the space that occupied its eye. A shockwave sent one trooper to my left flying into a way while a sniper round tore through the chest of another. Seeing as it was time to go, I got to my feet and hauled ass. Rounds pinged off my shields as I ran. I was almost into cover when I round broke through my shields and grazed the unarmored area on the side of my knee. The hit caused me to stumble then fall as the second grenade exploded.

It was only a quick move into cover as bullets hit the ground around me. I examined my knee when I was in the protection of a pile of rubble. It was bleeding pretty good, but not as bad as it could be. I would survive with a few stitches when I got back to the ship. A quick application of medi-gel gave almost instant relief to the stinging pain I had. The bleeding slowed down significantly, too.

 _That should hold for now._

It was then I noticed the gun fire had halted. Everyone else was coming out of cover. It was Shepard who caught my attention. She looked pissed. It was easy to guess why, though.

"Ironwill, what the hell was that?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. "You could have gotten seriously injured or killed. Do you have a deathwish?!"

I sighed. "It worked, didn't it?"

"That's besides the point. It was reckless. You could have died, Ironwill. From now on, no more reckless acts like that. I don't want to have another member of my crew killed."

By the end of that, her voice sounded… regretful? Sad? Also, Ash looked towards the ground with a blank look. And what did Shepard mean by another… Oh, right.

Jenkins.

He died on Eden Prime. That planet was his home, if I remembered correctly. He died under Shepard's command and Ash took his place. Makes more sense that Shepard had been scowling me for reckless behavior.

With a breath, I pushed myself off the ground. Putting wait on my wounded knee caused me to groan as it ached.

"You alright, Daniel?" Tali asked.

I nodded. "I'm good. Bullet grazed my knee. Medi-gel should hold until I am able to get back to the _Normandy,_ " I replied. To make a point, I took my Phalanx and twirled it by the trigger guard. "I'm good to continue."

Shepard gave a nod. She led us towards that spot we would have to drop down to get inside the building due to the giant blue shield blocking the more obvious route. After a quick moment of looking around to see if there were any alternate routes, she finally jumped down.

 _Down the rabbit hole we go… except I know what's down there._

The rest of the team hopped down too. The tunnel looked just as it did in the game. A dead varren was at the end of it. Shepard crouched down to examine it. When she did, a round made contact with her shoulder with her shield stopping it. Faster than I could see, she pulled the Predator pistol from her hip and aimed it to her left. Standing a yard or two away was Lizbeth holding a gun with shaking hands.

She dropped the gun to the ground and covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I thought you were geth or one of those varren."

Shepard holstered her gun and approached the scared woman. "It's okay. You're safe now. But I would appreciate if I wasn't shot again."

Lizbeth nodded. "Yes. Sorry… again."

"I understand," Shepard said, offering a small friendly smile. "Why are you here in the first place?"

With a sigh, Lizbeth said, "It's my own fault. Everyone else was running and I stayed to back up some data. Next thing I knew, the geth ship attached on and the power went out."

"Don't worry. We'll get you out as soon as we find out what the geth are after."

"It's not the geth," Lizbeth informed. "It's the energy field they put up. They don't want anyone getting access to the—." She quickly became quiet. _Yay, we get to learn about a giant plant… thing._

Shepard too caught on with how quickly she got quiet. "I'm here to stop the geth. I can't do that if I don't know what they are after. Please, tell me. It's very important that I find out."

Lizbeth was hesitant for a moment, but told us nonetheless. "I don't know for certain, but I'm guessing they're here for the Thorian."

"What the hell is a Thorian?" Ash asked.

At that, I tuned the conversation out. I knew what the Thorian was and how to kill the thing. So, I decided to scan the area. If I remembered correctly, a pack of varren would attack soon. I rather have the advantage of seeing them first. And I did.

"Guys, we have some four-legged friends coming," I said, pulling my Phalanx from my thigh. I aimed and fired one shot, that shot tearing through the skull of the first varren the I saw. Several more began showing up after. I count about ten.

Taking down the varren was a brief task. Most didn't even get close. Not with Shepard and her sniper, that it. As she saw the door at the other side of the rubble cluttered area, we were told to keep weapons ready. We were about to walk into the lions den, essentially.

Upon entry into the building, we heard the frustrated sound of a krogan. Shepard turned to us and signaled for us to be silent. She made a point to look at me when she did it though. Anyway, she led the way up a flight of stairs that led to a hallway. At the end of said hallway, was that krogan talking to the VI ExoGeni had here. We walked up the hall slowly, backs pressed to the wall.

" _I am unable to comply. Please contact your supervisor,_ " the VI told the krogan.

The krogan growled. "Damn it! Tell me what I want or I'll blast your virtual ass into actual dust!"

I waited for the VI to mention others in line behind him, but it never came. Actually, everything got quiet and froze. That only meant one thing.

"Rumple," I said simply, pushing off of the wall.

At the end of the hall, a swirl of dark smoke rose from the ground. When is dissipated, the crocodile himself stood there with that annoying smile of his.

"Miss me, dearie?" he asked.

"Like a cancer survivor misses his tumor," I replied coldly.

"Oh, you wound me. I thought we were starting to become friends."

My eyes narrowed. "You have a sick idea of friendship then. Now, tell me what you want."

Rumple giggled and began to walk towards the krogan. "I want a lot of things, dearie. This visit now is because I want to tell you something."

"Then out with it."

All he did was smile. "I have been making things easier for you since you arrived."

"What?"

"That's right, dearie! I have been making the enemies you come across… dumber, to put it simply. How do you think you have been able to do the stuff you have been? Because you're skilled?" Rumple scoffed. "Nope! It is because I have essentially turned down the 'difficulty'. Now, I feel that you feel like you can take on anything." He turned his hand over and waved the other over it. In a swirl of smoke, a grenade appeared. "I can't have that now. So, I'm gonna make sure everyone from here on out fight like they are supposed to. You're gonna have to be smarter from now on, dearie. But, I won't make your first opponent be this big lug. I never liked him anyway." Rumple patted the krogan on the back before activating the grenade and attaching it to the krogan's belt.

That couldn't be right. How could he make the people we fight less effective? How was it possible? I knew he pulled me into this universe and he could freeze time, but could he do that? Actually… it would make sense. I have noticed that our firefights have been a bit too easy.

"Well," Rumple speaking brought me out of my thoughts, "I suggest you get back to your spot." He pointed to the space between Ash and Tali. "You don't want the _stunning_ commander you have to question why you were in the middle of the hall when this guy gets turned to pulp."

With a sigh, I got back into my spot against the wall.

Rumple gave one of his insane sounding giggles. "Until next time, dearie." He waved his hand over himself and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The bastard was using his acquired form from the _Once Upon a Time_ character too well. And when he was gone, time unfroze. So did the grenade.

The krogan heard a beeping from his belt and looked down to see the damn thing. Making sure we would get hit with shrapnel fragments, I quickly threw up a biotic wall to shield the team from the blast. The krogan tried to pull the thing off his belt but was too late. It exploded. I saw chuck of his body explode and the rest go flying out of sight. I dropped the wall.

Shepard looked at the bloody mess that was most of the krogan. "The hell happened?" She then looked up and turned towards me. Actually, the others did too.

I held up my hands. "I didn't do shit. The dumbass must have accidentally hit the thing while talking to the VI. I saw the grenade about to go off, so I threw up a wall to protect us." It took a moment of digesting that info, but the others accepted it as truth.

 _Fuck you, Rumple. You prick._

Unfortunately, when the grenade blew the krogan to hell, the VI terminal went with him.

"Shit," Shepard muttered as she looked at the burning hunk of metal that was the terminal. "We could have figured out why the geth want the Thorian from that."

"They must have other VI terminals in the building," Tali said. "We may come across another."

Shepard nodded and waved us to follow. We all had to carefully step over the chucks of krogan flesh that was basically all over the room. It wasn't a pleasant sight. I got a bit nauseous at the sight. Liara even gagged as her foot nearly stepped in it.

We moved through the place until we found a room with one of the geth ship claws piercing through the wall, a shit ton of cables, and two shock troopers that looked to be… praying? Shepard put a well-placed sniper round through the head of the one while the rest of us riddled the other with bullets.

 _Bullshit Rumple was making the enemies easier before. That was easy like before. Lying prick._

Since the only other way to go was down, the team all jumped down from the ledge we were on. A glowing orb the geth were praying to or something caught my attention. It looked peaceful actually.

"It appears the geth have attached their ship to the structure using those claws," Liara pointed out.

"Subtle as a boot to the face," Ash commented. "How do we cut off the power if its coming from the ship."

"Perhaps one of the claws has a defect?" Liara offered. "We could remove the ship by exploiting said defect."

"Only one way to find out," Shepard said. "Let's move out."

The building was eerily silent as we moved through it. There was no signs of geth the closer we got to were we needed to be to remove the ship. While my memory of exactly everything that happened in game was perfect, I knew we should have ran into some resistance through here. I didn't like it. They others didn't seem to like it either.

It was when we got nearly to where we had to go when I told the rest to hold up.

"What's up, Ironwill?" Shepard asked.

"Have you noticed the concerning lack of hostiles so far?" I asked in return. "They may be focused around the claws."

She nodded. "He's right. Everyone, make sure you're ready for a big fight. Now, follow me."

It was at the last turn before our HUDs got jammed. Hoppers. But around the next corner was the sound of geth chatter. Lots of it. It was not comforting. And looking ahead, I saw two sets of waist high walls. Shit.

Shepard gestured to us to crouch down. She shimmied into cover that was right where the wall ended and the large room began. Ash did the same thing. Tali was after her. The cover had enough room for the three of them. Shepard held up three fingers. Ash and Tali understood.

Two.

I switched out my pistol for my M16.

One.

My biotics flared lightly. They were a light brown color. Ew, but I was tense for what was about to happen. I guess that color means that. _God, I hate this rainbow biotic shit._

The moment Shepard closed her fist, she popped up from cover and fired off a round. Ash and Tali did the same. The three had to quickly duck back behind cover as a damn wall of bullets flew their way.

"Ironwill! Liara! I need a biotic wall now!" Shepard called over the sound of gunfire. "Ash and I are gonna make a dash for that." She pointed to the other set of cover.

"Copy that!" I said. I looked to Liara. "Ready?"

"Yes."

I stood up and held a hand out. A biotic wall appeared, quickly going from a light brown to a deep blue. Liara added strength to the wall and the both of us expanded it. When it could get no larger without risking it breaking, we told the Commander and Ash to go.

When the made it across, Liara and I quickly got down into cover next to Tali. My rifle was pointed over the cover and several bursts were sent at the closest geth I could see. Before dropping back down into cover, I tried to get a read on how many we were going against. The answer was a whole fuck-ton. It was made up of at least four krogan, normal troopers, shock troopers, a sniper or two, and a few hoppers.

I couldn't stay out of cover more than ten seconds at a time. My shields would take a decent hit and I would be forced to get back down before they broke. Maybe Rumple was right. Before I could stay out of cover and take maybe a few hits. Now, it seems like they were smarter. Shock troopers were even using their shields they can put up. It didn't help that there was a lot of them either. But we were taking them out, slowly but surely.

"Ironwill!" Shepard yelled after taking a shot at a krogan.

"I hear ya!"

"I see an explosive container. Take hold of it with your biotics and toss it towards a group of them. I'll shoot it while it's in the air."

"Where is it, though?"

Shepard ducked down as a round grazed the top of her cover. "Center of the room!"

I peered around the side of my cover and saw what she was talking about. "Okay, get ready." Biotics became wreathed around the container. I moved it into the air and then jerked my arm to the right. The container went flying towards a group of geth. Shepard took aim and fired. It hit its mark and the container exploded. It took out only a handful of geth, but it helped.

Right before I could get back into cover, a geth sniper fired at me. The round slammed into my shoulder and knocked me on my ass. My HUD flashed red as my shield indicator blinked empty.

"I'm good!" I shouted to everyone.

The next ten minutes felt longer than they should have. We eventually cleared out the room. Shepard shot a krogan right through his chest and he dropped to the ground to end it. Due to krogan redundant organs and regeneration, he was still alive but in pain. He tried to push off the ground, but I planted my foot on his back and put two bullets into the back of his skull from my Phalanx.

I looked up at the docking claw that was sticking into the room. I knew that was the shuttle bay door we had to use to cut it free. "Hey, Commander? That looks like a bay door. If we can shut it, it may be able to cut through the claw. Even one being dislodged could drop the ship, right?"

"Good job, Ironwill," she said with a smile. "Okay, team, look for possible controls for that door."

It didn't take long to find the controls. They were literally just on the other side of the room. But what was also on the other side of the room was a VI terminal. Shepard went to that first.

" _ExoGeni Corporation reminds all staff that the discharging of weapons on company property is strictly forbidden_ ," the VI said right after it turned on.

I didn't pay attention to that interaction either. I knew what the Thorian was. I knew where it was. I knew what ExoGeni was doing. I knew I was probably gonna wring Jeong's neck for doing that to those people.

"Now, time for that door," Shepard said when she finished talking to the VI. She approached the control but turned to face Tali. "How about you do it, Tali? You're better with tech than I am."

"Oh!" Tali said, surprised. "Of course." She went to the controls and began typing away. "Hmm, apparently the door is malfunctioning. It shuts with a lot of force if the PSI is at a certain level. Annnnd… there!"

We all turned to the claw. The bay door shut and cut through the claw with a crunch and groan of metal. There was a loud groan from outside the building followed by screeching and the entire building shaking. It lasted several moments before stopping. The moment the geth ship dropped, our comms crackled to life again. Joker's voice came through.

" _I repeat, Normandy to shore party. Are you reading? Anyone there? Normandy to shore party. Come on, Commander, talk to me!_ "

Shepard answered immediately to Joker's concerned tone. "Is that your, Joker? What's going on over there?"

" _We're in lockdown here, Commander. Something happened to the colonists. They're banging on the hull, trying to claw their way insider the ship. They're freaking out!_ "

"They can't do any real damage. Hold tight, we're going to make our way back now." She looked at the rest of us. "Move out and stay alert. There could be move geth inside or more on their way."

I chuckled softly. "It never ends does it?"

…

 _ **A/N: So, there is the second part of Feros. I thought I would finish up the mission this chapter. I guess not. This chapter was starting to feel took long. I believe this mission will get close to 18,000 words alone after I get the next chapter done. So that's insane.**_

 _ **Oh, I worked out a sort of idea of what some of the biotic color Daniel has and what they mean:**_

 **Red: angry, frustrated**

 **Blue: relaxed**

 **Light Blue: calm**

 **Deep Blue: concentration**

 **Dark yellow: confused**

 _ **Light Yellow: cautious**_

 **Light Brown: Tense**

 _ **Orange: Determination**_

 _ **Light Green: Happy**_

 **Purple: Thoughtful or emotionless**

 _ **If you have any ideas of what I could add, tell me in a review. Those that aren't italics mean they are set in stone what the color means. But let me know what I could add or change.**_

 _ **So, leave a review, follow, favorite if you enjoyed.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	12. Chapter 12 You Ugly Mess

_**A/N: So, I'm gonna start this author's note by addressing this review I got after I uploaded the last chapter. Some Guest left a review. This individual said they only read up to the 3rd chapter. They started out their review by say "not to sound rude" and then preceded to call my version of Shepard a moron for letting a civilian join her. Bruh! That's literally 90 percent of self-insert like Mass Effect stories on this website! This reviewer then said Daniel seems he can do whatever he wants and that some things haven't been explained about him. Of course things haven't been explained! You think I'mma just throw everything out there all within three chapters? This person then finished the review by saying my story sucks. It didn't help that their spelling was awful and I had to read through the review a few times. I'm not sure if that's due to the person not knowing English as a first language, though. But, nothing constructive was gained out of this review. It basically insulted my version of Shepard and my story. At least read everything I have posted before even getting to call judgment on my story like that. Some things do get explained. Like, damn dude! You think people judged the whole of the**_ **Harry Potter** ** _series just from the first 3 chapters of the first book?_**

 _ **Anyway, I thought that review was amusing. Thanks to those who followed, favorited, and reviewed since last chapter, though. It means a lot. I especially like getting reviews because I enjoy hearing what people have to say about my story. Although, I was hoping for a bit more follows and reviews. Mostly reviews. Eh, no biggie.**_

 _ **Oh, what would you guys think about me putting credit songs at the end of each chapter. You know, songs that I think go with the chapter or just gave me inspiration or stuff like that? Let me know in a review or something. Or PM me.**_

 _ **Last, I have started college this past Monday, so updates are gonna be slower now. The only reason I'm getting this out a week later is because I just hammered it out the day after the last chapter was posted because I was in a writing mood that day.**_

 _ **Now, time for the climax of an otherwise longer than expected mission.**_

 _ **On to the show!**_

…

My damned knee began to ache and sting again as the medi-gel began to wear off. I simply applied more of the gel, but it didn't help as much as last time. Chakwas would need to check it out. Luckily, this infernal mission was almost over. I prayed Rumple didn't make anymore surprise visits, but I wasn't putting much hope in that.

Shepard led us through the way we came. We came across a few geth along the way. Those tin buckets were taken out fairly quickly, but their aim seemed better than usual. That meant Rumple was definitely telling the truth. Anyway, the Commander took a different way than I remembered. It ended up in like a room set up like an office. She typed away at a terminal and pulled out an OSD after a download was done. Apparently, a guy asked her to retrieve some data.

We finally found our exit that was previously blocked off by the geth shielding. To my no-so-surprise, Lizbeth was waiting for us like I expected. Shepard and the others seemed surprised she was there though.

"There you are!" Lizbeth said, seeming glad that we made it out. "We should get out of here. I don't think the place is safe."

Shepard held up her hand though. "In a second. I need some answers from you. You knew more about the Thorian than you let on."

"I… I was afraid. I wanted to stop the tests, but they threatened me, told me I'd be next. When the geth attacked, I stayed behind to send a message to Colonial Affairs. I tried to tell them where to find the Thorian, but the power cut before I could send the message. I… I never meant for this to happen."

With a soft sigh, Shepard said, "You did what you could. I'll help them if you can tell me where to find the Thorian."

"It's under Zhu's Hope, but the entrance is blocked. The colonist covered it with the freighter just before the geth attacked."

"That seemed like a smart move," I commented. It would have made it difficult for the geth to get to.

"True," the Commander said. "But why are the geth after the Thorian? What use would it have to Saren?"

"It must be for it's unique mind-control abilities," Lizbeth suggested. "That's what ExoGeni was interested in."

Just then, the comm came to life and Joker's voice came through again. " _Normandy to shore party, come in._ "

"What's up, Joker?" Shepard asked.

" _We're getting a lot of geth comm chatter. Looks like you have a little party heading your way_."

I chuckled softly. "Jeez, I wonder why. It's not like we just took out the ship from their base of operations or anything."

" _Ha ha, very funny, Daniel. Hey, Commander, can we leave him here when this is done?_ "

Shepard turned to me with a smirk. "I'm highly debating it. But thanks for the heads-up, Joker." She shut off the comm. "You heard him. Let's move out."

We made our way to move out, but Lizbeth jumped in front of Shepard.

"Wait! I'm coming with you. I might be able to help. Undo the mess I helped create," she said.

The Commander looked at the team for suggestions. We all basically just shrugged. Lizbeth needed to get out of this area anyway.

With that, we all made our way to were Shepard parked the death trap we call the Mako. Or it could just be because Shepard drives the thing that makes it a death trap. It's not like I could find out. She doesn't seem to want to hand over the responsibility of driving the Mako to anyone else. That, or she could just enjoying driving like a blind person a little too much. Actually, I'll go with that option.

Getting into the Mako was easy. Shepard just ordered us to take our previous positions. That meant Tali and Ash got to have some fun while Liara and I did fuck all. Oh, Lizbeth too. She sat right between the shy asari and I.

As Shepard started the tank's engine, I leaned over to Lizbeth and gave a piece of advice. "You might want to strap in and hold on."

She looked at me confused. "Why?"

"You'll find out soon."

…

"Jesus H. Fuck!"

I honestly thought the Mako was going to tip over after that last hit. Lizbeth looked damn terrified next to me. It was safe to assume that she was regretting wanting to come along. Who would? Shepard was absolutely awful driving. I didn't think that point would ever be solidified enough no matter how many times it is said.

"Calm down, Ironwill," Shepard said from the front, narrowly avoiding a rocket coming our way.

I held on to the handhold above my seat as as the tank shook from machine gun fire. "Easy for you to say. You're probably having fun up there."

All I got was her chuckling when she ran over a geth.

"Is she always like this?" Lizbeth asked, her eyes shut tightly.

"More or less."

For the next ten minutes or so, that was how the ride went. When we got close to the ExoGeni survivors, the radio came to life with someone trying to ask if anyone was out there picking up transmission until someone told them to stop. The closer we got, the more clear it became who was on the radio. Actually, it probably helped that they said their name. It was Lizbeth's mother. She was trying to send a message off-world for help. When Lizbeth heard who it was, she unbuckled her harness and reached for the door.

"That's my mom!" She exclaimed. "Stop. Stop the rover." It seemed that she was going to exit the tank no matter what as she turned the door release. Shepard slammed on the breaks. That let Lizbeth jump out and ran to the ExoGeni survivors.

"Everyone, out," Shepard ordered, already halfway out the tank herself. I was surprised I was actually going to be able to go down there this time.

We hurried after Lizbeth. But then we heard Lizbeth's mother, Juliana, arguing with Jeong. Shepard gave the silent order to stay out of sight. We listened in on what it was about.

"You can't do this, Jeong!" Juliana said, sounding quite distressed.

"Everyone shut up!" Jeong yelled. "Let me think!" He sounded deranged.

"You won't get away with this!"

"Get her out of here!"

It was when Lizbeth saw her mother being pulled away that she made her, and our, presence known.

"Get away from her, you son of a bitch!" She shouted, running towards her mother.

"Damn it!" Jeong said. "Come out where I can see you! All of you!"

The Commander looked at us and sighed before standing up and walking down the ramp to confront Jeong.

"Hah, Shepard," Jeong said, sounding disappointed. "Damn it. I knew it was too much to hope the geth would kill you." I felt that hot tingle near my amps begin to rise. I closed my eye and took a deep breath, trying to ease it. That rat bastard honestly hoped that the geth would kill us. "I found some interesting information about you in the ExoGeni database. I know what you did during the Blitz, and your heroics aren't needed here."

But I wasn't the only one feeling pissed. I knew Shepard was too now. It was in the way she straightened her back at the mention of the Blitz. "You better explain yourself, Jeong. Now."

"It's not that easy. Communications are back up. ExoGeni wants this place purged."

"This is a human colony, Jeong!" Lizbeth stressed. "You can't just re-purpose us!"

Jeong chuckled bitterly. "It's not just you. There's something here far more valuable than a few colonists."

"The Thorian," Shepard said simply.

I saw Juliana tilt her head in confusion. "The… what?"

Lizbeth rubbed the back of her neck. "It's a telepathic life form… living under Zhu's Hope. It's taking control of the colonist. ExoGeni knew all along."

Juliana looked at Jeong. "You won't get away with this."

He rolled his eyes. "So you keep saying. But who's gonna miss a few colonists?"

That last comment was enough for me. I took a step forward, hand extended outward. A purple aura of biotics surrounded Jeong, slowly turning a shade of red. Four of the ExoGeni security guard raised their weapons at me. I simply wrapped their guns in biotics and crushed them. My fingers curled slightly, and the biotics around Jeong's neck began to constrict. His eyes widened and a hand went up to pull at the force around his neck. I even lifted him into the air just enough the his toes scraped the ground.

"Listen here, you bastard," I started out simply.

"Ironwill," Shepard hissed. "Stand down."

I ignored her and continued to speak to Jeong. "We are going to stop the Thorian and release those colonists from its hold on them. After that is done, you are going to convince your bosses that Zhu's Hope is worth the time and money. And those colonist you seem so eager to let die? You're gonna make sure that they live comfortably for the rest of their lives for what you put them through. Do I make myself clear?" Jeong nodded quickly, his eyes widen with fear. I dropped him to the ground and he fell on his knees, coughing. I crouched down, my knee aching a bit more due to that, and leaned in close. "If I find out that none of the things I ask of you are done, I'll be coming… for you."

Jeong nodded again. "Yes, yes. I understand. The colonists and Zhu's Hope with thrive."

I smirked. "Good." I stood up and found Shepard glaring at me. "What? You wanted to do the same, too."

"Yes, Jeong is an asshole, but that was out of line," Shepard said. "When this is over, I'm going to make sure you learn to remain in line. Got that, _Private_?"

With a sigh, I nodded. "Yes, ma'am." The hot tingle near my amps was starting to go away.

"Now, don't interfere again." She then went off to talk with Juliana.

I went and sat against a wall near the entrance. I was getting annoyed with those outbursts myself. Those weren't who I was. I was always a shy person and fairly kind. Now here, I'm threatening people's lives and shit. It had to be because of the amps. I was pretty sure Rumple mentioned something like that. Side effects of a sort.

When I didn't here any noise from… well, anything, I groaned.

"Girl trouble, dearie?" Rumple asked with a giggle from his spot sitting on a stack of boxes.

"Can you just fuck off," I said.

Rumple hopped down. "What, not liking the new you?"

My head snapped up to glare at him. "No! These outburst are getting me in trouble with Shepard. And I know you know why I am having them! So just tell me!"

He wagged his finger at me. "I'm afraid I can't, dearie. That is something you need to discover on your own."

I took a deep breath to calm myself down, even slamming my fist into the concrete ground next to me.

Everything unfroze then as Rumple decided to disappear. Shepard looked to be done talking with Juliana about the grenade mods, so I stood up and waited for her. We all went back to the Mako after she dropped of some data to a guy.

Shepard didn't go to the driver seat immediately though. She pulled out a case in the back of the Mako and opened it. Inside was several rows of grenades.

"Everyone, take two," she announced. "Load in the nerve agent mod. These will take out the colonist." She gave out the necessary mod. "Make sure you're a safe distance. Wouldn't want you knocking yourself out, now would we?"

On the rest of the way back to the colony, geth resistance was very minimal. My guess was that they sent most of their troops when we left ExoGeni HQ. It gave us a bit of a break before we take on the Thorian. I wasn't complaining. It meant Shepard wouldn't accidentally drive off the skyway trying to avoid geth fire.

"Okay, we are almost at the colony," Shepard said. "Team, make sure your grenades are set to go. The colonist aren't to be harmed. If you miss your grenade throw, knock them out the old fashioned way."

When we pulled up to the garage door, there was a Thorian Creeper right by the garage controls. Liara leaned forward to look out the front windshield.

"What is that?" she asked.

"I don't know," Shepard said slowly. "Be alert."

I was the first one out of the tank. My Phalanx was raised and aimed at the Creeper. It still stayed in its little curled up position. Everyone else climbed out in cautious movements. The Creeper looked so much more nasty than it did in the games. Here, it looked to be a human-shaped mass of organic matter. Sections of flesh was hanging off. It had a slight green color to it. And the smell! It passed right through my helmet's filters. I actually gagged a little.

I looked back to Shepard, silently asking permission to approach. She nodded. All it took was one step closer for the Creeper to uncurl and stand up. It looked in our direction before emitting a high-pitched screech. Then it charged.

The entire team filled it with bullets. Just like in the game, it exploded, but here is was a bit of flesh, acid, and greenish dust that flew everywhere. I raised my hand to shield my helmet from it. Bits of acid landed on my armor. There was a sizzling noise and I saw that the paint on my armor was being eaten away.

"Shit," I muttered. "Be careful, the acid could do harm."

"What was that thing anyway?" Tali asked.

Ash shook her head. "I don't know what that thing does to people, but that's not human."

"I agree with the Chief," Liara said.

"Then we make sure not to let those things get too close if there are anymore," Shepard said before walking up to the garage controls. She pressed the button and the door slowly groaned open. As light flooded into the garage, we were greeted by the sight of a shit ton more or those Creepers. Way more than was in the game, all in their curled up position.

I cleared my throat. "Uh, I think there are more, Commander."

One of the Creepers craned its head up to look at us, bits of flesh tearing from its neck. It slowly stood up. It stared at us a moment before letting out a screech. The other Creepers began standing up. There was a lot of them. The possibility of us getting overrun was high.

A few bullets hit off my shields and forced me to use the Mako as cover.

 _And that would be the colonists. Lovely…_

Looking down at my arm, an idea came to me. I smiled. It could work. The Creepers went down easily.

"Shepard," I said quickly. "You guess take care of the colonists, I got an idea to clear out those Thorian things."

"How?"

"Just watch." I hit a switch on my grappling hook and it began to come out of its storage. I let it get too a certain length before stopping it. My hand gripped the cord as I channeled my biotics all along it.

The first Creeper came charging forward. I whipped the hook around and sliced right through the thing, both halves of it exploding. Jerking my arm in the other direction, the hook cut through several more that came at us. Moving forward, I used the grappling hook as a whip, cutting down Creeper after Creeper. It was actually fun. I even did a sort of spin for style, taking out many more as I did. Unfortunately, some acid did manage to land on my armor. Avitus would need to fix that. I wouldn't trust anyone else with the task.

When all of the Creepers were dispatched, I retracted my grappling hook. Shepard and the rest took care of the colonists by the elevator. There was five of them. More than in the game, I believe. Makes sense. The colony had more people there than in the game. A lot more.

"Had fun?" Ash asked as I rejoined the rest of the team.

I chuckled lightly. "In fact I did."

"Good to hear, Ironwill," Shepard commented. "Now, everyone in the elevator."

We did just that. Piled in, hit the button for top floor, and waited. And waited. And waited because the elevators in the galaxy apparently moved slower than an old DSL internet connection. It annoyed me to no end. I swore if Saren won, I would blame the elevators for taking so much of our time.

At last, we made it to the top. I asked Shepard if I could take point. She reluctantly agreed. I brought my pistol to my hand with my biotics and led the way around the corner… only to get tackled by a Thorian Creeper.

The Creeper screeched right in my face. I looked directly into its black, soulless eye as acid dripped from its mouth and onto my chest armor. Suddenly, the thing began to look like it was gagging.

 _Oh, do not spit acid on me!_

With my pistol having been knocked out of my hand, I activated my omni-blade and drove it right into the Creeper's head. It exploded. All of the gore and acid and all covered me nearly entirely. The smell was horrid. I thought I was literally going to vomit, but that sensation passed.

Getting to my feet, the team was all looking at me. They all had their hands covering their noses and mouths. I looked down at myself then back at them.

"I'm gonna need to bath in tomato soup, aren't I?" I deadpanned.

"Just…," Shepard nearly gagged. "Let's just get moving."

We moved on, taking out a few more Creepers on our way. The next corner held more colonists. I ducked into cover when half of my shields were taking out almost immediately. Activating a gas grenade from my belt, I tossed it around my cover and in the general direction of the colonist. There was a the sound of the grenade going off. What I didn't hear was anymore gunfire.

"Impressive throw, Daniel," Liara said.

"I aim to impress," I joked.

As we went past those colonists, I counted four that I knocked out. Down the stairs, more Creepers awaited us. They uncurled and charged. While they were taken down, Ash and Liara were hit with a bit of acid from the death explosions. Liara even got a bit on her cheek. She said it was okay after applying medi-gel, so we continued through the tower.

The entryway into the colony was in sight then. Only issue was that there was a lot of Creepers, and behind them were a lot of colonists with guns. To not risk a stray bullet hitting the colonists, Shepard ordered us to bait the Creepers back up the stairs. From there, taking out the Creepers was fairly easy. Tali and her shotgun were a big help.

"Skipper, that was a whole mess of colonist back there," Ash said. "Going down that hallway would be suicide, and it would be difficult to toss the grenades down it."

"I know," Shepard said with a sigh. "Maybe there is another way around."

"Or…," I said, gaining everyone's attention, "You give me one more grenade, and I do a biotic charge down the hall and drop the 'nades at their feet."

"Absolutely not!" Shepard said. "You have risked your life enough today through recklessness. The risk of this is too high. No."

"Commander, the sooner we take out that plant, the better. Searching for another way around could take too long, if we could find one. I'll be a literal blur to them. Trust me."

She bit her lip. A nervous tick, had to be. Finally, she nodded and handed me her last grenade. "You better be faster than a blur, soldier."

I saluted before going down the stairs. Taking both grenades in my hands, my biotics flared. I took a moment to calm my mind, before standing in the center of the hall. Several bullets hit my shields instantly, but my biotic charge was already prepped. I shot pass the colonists. They were in two groups of five. Activating both grenades, I rolled them towards each group before turning and charging back down the hallway. The sound of the grenades going off reached my ears. Turning around revealed that all ten colonists were taking a nap.

Poking my head around the wall and looking up the stairs, I said, "Mission accomplished, ma'am. Can I get a cookie for my efforts?"

Even from the bottom of the stairs, I could see Shepard roll her eyes. But she had a slight smile on her face. She waved the others to follow her. Once she reached the bottom, she Gibbs-slapped me but lighter than it had been previous times.

"Eh!" I said. "Why?"

"Because you're a smartass, Ironwill."

I grinned under my helmet. "And proud to be one!"

That got her to chuckle. "Let's move out, shall we? That might have been the last of the colonists. There weren't that many when we arrived, unfortunately."

There wasn't much left in the colony to deal with. A few Thorian Creepers was about it. Oh, and Fai Dan. He still hadn't made an appearance yet since we entered the colony. I was going to save him though. I knew what he was going to do. I could save him. Finally be able to put that knowledge of game events to use.

When we got to the crane controls, there were a few more colonists waiting, in fact. A simple toss of a gas grenade and they dropped. Shepard then activated the controls to open up the entrance to the Thorian's lair. Everyone else went over towards to entrance, but not Shepard and I. We both heard the sound of an uneasy step and whirled around to face it, pistols raised.

Fai Dan was stumbling into view. He had a hand pressed to his head. His body shook as well. Resisting the Thorian was doing quite the number on him.

"I tried to fight it," Fai Dan muttered, "but it gets in your head. You can't imagine the pain. I was supposed to be their leader. These people trusted me." I lightly flared my biotics. Fai Dan reached for his pistol and aimed it at Shepard. His arm trembled. "It wants me to stop you… but… I won't…" He began to move the pistol towards his head.

That's when I acted. I ripped the gun from his hands biotically and charged over to him, punching him in the face and knocking him out. Shepard looked between the unconscious form of Fai Dan and me before giving me a nod of approval. I followed her over to the stairs where the rest of the team was.

Even from the top of the stairs, you could smell the Thorian. It was just like its little spawns. It only got worst as we descended. Then there was this organic matter that was growing on the walls the further we went down. It was horrible and nasty.

"Okay," Tali began as we made the final walk to the Thorian. "We just need to find this creature and determine… and determine…"

The thing that made her at a lost of words was the Thorian. It was simply repulsive. I had never seen anything more disgusting looking in my entire existence. It was honestly indescribable. I could describe it accurately enough if I could. The Thorian was a… mound of organic matter… with a vagina-like thing at gives birth to asari clones.

"We're gonna need a bigger gun," I said plainly, staring up at the ugly thing.

Shepard, hesitantly, walked closer to the Thorian. The plant then shuddered. The… tentacles? Let's just go with tentacles. Anyway, the tentacles around the mouth-vagina-thing began wiggling. A cringe causing squishing noise was even coming from it. To our relief, the Thorian finally let out an asari clone. She rose to her feet and pushed pass the tentacles.

"Invaders!" she announced loudly. "Your every step is a transgression. A thousand feelers appraise you as meat, good only to dig or decompose."

I leaned over to Liara and whispered, "Should we feel insulted from that?"

"I speak for the Old Growth," the clone said," as I did for Saren. You are within and before the Thorian. It commands that you be in awe!"

"'Awe' isn't the word I would use for the sight of that thing," Ash commented.

"You gave something to Saren," Shepard said, using her 'commander' voice. "Something I need."

"Saren sought knowledge of those who are gone," the clone informed. "The Old Growth listened to flesh for the first time in the Long Cycle. Trades were made. Then cold ones began killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle. Flesh fairly given! The Old Growth sees the air you push as lies! It will listen no more!"

"I won't let you keep the colonists under your control. Release them. Now!"

The clone glared at us. "No more will the Thorian listen to those that scurry. Your lives are short, but have gone on too long." She reached for the shotgun on her hip. "Your blood will feed the ground and the new growth!"

She was promptly sent flying over the edge by a Throw from Liara.

The chamber was then filled with the screeches of Thorian Creepers. Several of them came charging from a path of to the side. Without prompting from the Commander, Tali and Ash took position in front of the rest with their shotguns. They tore through the Creepers with ease. But I saw more coming from the higher levels. We had to move quickly unless we wanted to get swarmed.

"What is that?" Tali asked. She was looking over at the first Thorian node.

I made a show of looking from the node to the Thorian and back again before leveling my pistol at it and firing. The moment the round torn into the thing, the Thorian howled in pain. Seeing what I did had made progress, everyone else unloaded into the node until it exploded. The root it was attached to was pulled from the wall a few inches.

"If you see anymore of these, take them out!" Shepard said. "Now, let's move out!"

A wave of Creepers had come tumbling down the stairs. Literally. They truly were like a pack of ravenous zombies. Some more even came from the way we entered. It was a clusterfuck.

I threw a Shockwave at the group that was approaching behind us. To my surprise, the moment the wave of dark energy met the Creepers, they were obliterated. I knew they were weak, but damn! That would be helpful, though.

The others had cleared the steps, so we all hurried up the steps. At the top of the steps, we were greeted by one of the asari clones. She threw a Lift at us that most avoided. Except Tali.

"Whoa!" She exclaimed as she floated up into the air.

I charged at the clone, delivering a left hook to her face. She stumbled back dangerously close to the edge. A Shockwave threw her over the edge, but not before she managed to fire off her shotgun. The blast hit me dead center in my chest, knocking me to the ground and shattering my shields. It hurt like a bitch. There would definitely be bruising later.

Shepard came over to see if I was okay.

"I am," I said with a groan as I sat up. "Thanks for asking."

We moved forward from there. Shepard had us set up in such a way that we covered all angles. The Thorian Creepers came at us in waves along with a few asari clones. We almost got overrun at one point. The clones were a pain in the ass, though. Two of the six that came at us were sent over the edge. Acid hissed from spots all over our armor, swirls of smoke rising from those spots. And as we pushed on, whenever we saw a node, we took it out. The Thorian would wail in pain. A root would become dislodged slightly. It became a system, almost. My Shockwaves helped clear out Creepers fairly well, as well.

We reached the final node. No Creepers or clones in sight. I believe the Thorian realized it wouldn't win the fight. Well, that's what I believed until this hulking mass of… fuckery jumped down from a hole in the floor above.

 _That certainly wasn't in the game._

It looked to be some brute form of a Thorian Creeper. The thing was just grotesque. And I didn't think a bullet or two was going to put it down.

The team opened fire on it. The Brute just stood there and took it like a sponge. When we stopped firing, it roared before running at us. That move forced us to scatter unless we wanted to be steamrolled. Hell, even a Shockwave didn't do much. I decided that I would try a different approach.

I pulled the knife from my shoulder sheath and activated me omni-blade. Then I charged at the thing. The Brute tried to swing at me, but I ducked under the swing and sliced its side. I then jumped on to its back and moved up so I could drive my blades into its head. Pulling the blades out, I hopped off. The thing stumbled a bit towards the edge.

A booming report of a sniper echoed through the chamber.

The Brute's head jerked backwards. The movement tipped it over the edge.

I looked back to Shepard, who was holding her sniper in hand with a smirk on her face. "That was my kill."

"It was taking too long to fall. I sped up the process."

"Let's just kill this plant and be done with it."

"Alright. And to make us even, I'll let you shoot this last root out."

I slid my knife back in its sheath and grabbed my pistol. I fired once, twice, three times. One more shot would do it.

"Goodbye, you ugly mess," I said. Then I fired.

The Thorian cried out. The entire chamber shook as the last thing holding it it place was loosened. A groan ran through the place. As roots began to be ripped from their place, I walked a bit closer to the edge to watch as the Thorian fell.

It was a bad decision.

On of the roots above slammed through the level we were on… right next to me. The ground under my feet began to break and give out from under me. I fell and tried to grab on to the edge, but I couldn't get a proper hold. I fell to the level below us.

There was a brief sensation of floating right before my back slammed into the floor. Not only was the wind knocked out of me, a blinding pain erupted from my abdomen. I cried out. When I looked down, I was halfway off the edge, a piece of rebar protruding from the right side of my stomach. Blood covered the tip of the metal rod.

"Fuck…," I muttered through clenched teeth.

"Ironwill!" I heard Shepard yell from above.

Carefully, I applied medi-gel to the area. It didn't help much, but anything was better than nothing. I leaned my head back. There wasn't much I could do. Trying to get up would do more harm than good.

"Christ… hold on, Daniel!' Ash yelled down. "We'll be right down to help!"

I closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them again, Rumple was standing over me.

"You took quite a fall, huh, dearie?" He asked in an amused voice.

I sighed. "What does it look like… you asshole."

"Is that anyway to greet someone here to help?"

I scoffed. "Help? You?"

"Yes, dearie. I can't have you dying on me. Not yet at least." He snapped his fingers. "There. The rebar is still in, but I just cut it off from the rest of it. You can get up now." Rumple looked at a watch the suddenly appeared on his wrist. "Well, that's all the time I have for now. Ta-ta!" He vanished like previous times.

The moment time unfroze, the faces of Shepard and Ash came into view. They were worried, that was clear.

"Help me… up," I said in a strained voice.

"But…," Shepard began.

"The rebar in me is separated from the rest."

Slowly, the two Alliance marine sat me up and pulled me from the edge. It hurt like a bitch and a half. Even more slowly, they helped me to my feet.

"Joker, come in!" Shepard said into the comm.

" _Shepard, what did you do? The colonist outside the ship just—_."

"Not now, Joker. I need you to have Chakwas get to the colony. Ironwill was hurt bad. A piece a rebar through his stomach."

"Copy that, Commander." Even over comms, I could tell he was concerned too.

I saw Tali and Liara round the corner with Shiala in tow.

"Commander, this is—," Liara started.

"If she's not hostile, then I don't care right now," Shepard said. "Gotta get him back to the colony."

On the way up the stairs to Zhu's Hope, I kept zoning in and out. The blood loss was getting to my head. I didn't notice we even got back to the colony until I was being laid down on a medical table with Chakwas appearing over me. Then I felt a slight sting in my neck. After that, everything went black.

…

When the faintest hints of consciousness returned to me, the first thing I noticed was the ache. Right where the rebar was. I remembered that happening. Not much after the fact, though.

I slowly opened my eyes to find the ceiling of the _Normandy_ med-bay above me. There was the sound of keys being pressed next to me. To the right of the bed I was in, Shepard sat in a chair while typing away on a datapad.

"Aw, you do care about me," I said with a smirk. My voice sounded raspy and I noticed my throat was dry as hell.

She was visible startled. "Ironwill, you're awake."

"Really? Huh, I hadn't noticed."

She rolled her eyes at me. Her very tired looking eyes. That's when I realized she must have gotten the Cipher. "I wasn't expecting you to wake up, I mean."

"Well, I am. How long was I out?"

"About six hours."

Damn, six hours? Well, I did have a piece of metal stabbed through me. "Hmm, okay." Shepard rubbed her eyes and held in a yawn. "Speaking of sleep, you seem tired, Commander."

"Some more stuff happened after Chakwas put you under," she said. "Did you see that asari in the Thorian chamber as we helped you back to the colony?" I nodded. "Well, the short version is that through the Thorian, she gave Saren something called a Cipher. It is sort of like the knowledge of the protheans. It allows for the vision I got from the beacon to be read more clearly by allowing me to think like a prothean… I guess. It was a long day. Anyway, the Cipher hurt like a bitch. The asari, Shiala, had to mind-meld with me to transfer it."

"That's hot," I deadpanned.

"You're such an ass." Despite her words, she had a smile.

"Shepard, go get some sleep. Now. I'll make Chakwas make it an order." I looked around the room. "Where is she by the way?"

"Sleeping."

"Then follow her example and get some sleep yourself."

She sighed. "Fine. Goodnight, Private."

"Goodnight, Commander."

…

 _ **A/N: And there you have it! The conclusion to Feros… and Daniel gets hurt bad. What fun!**_

 _ **So, I mentioned stuff about credit songs above. Well, I'm going to put one here anyway. Still let me know in reviews or something about what you think of the idea.**_

 _ **The credit song for this chapter is**_ Monster by Imagine Dragons **. _I think it goes well with Daniel and these 'outbursts' he keeps having._**

 _ **If you enjoyed, leave a follow, favorite, or review. Whatever you want!**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	13. Chapter 13 Time to Get in Line, Soldier!

_**A/N: So, I'm back. Sorry for the wait, but as I said last chapter, college is gonna slow down the rate of updates for this a bit.**_

 _ **Well, a part of this chapter I have been planning for a while now. It will, hopefully, please some people who have been concerned with Shepard's decisions towards Daniel's actions. I hope it turns out well. I re-read it several times to make sure I liked it myself.**_

 _ **Anyway, thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews I got since last chapter. I may sound like a broken record, but those really give me more drive to write, especially reviews. I just wish I got more reviews though. I love hearing what you guys have to say about the story. It helps me become a better writer.**_

 _ **Oh!**_ **Watchers** ** _has reached over 10,000 views. That's fucking insane!_**

 _ **Anyway, on to the show!**_

…

After Shepard left to get some sleep, I decided to take a look at my most recent wound. I had a simple hospital gown on, so I just lifted that and saw a small bandage over the spot the rebar tore through my abdomen and a smaller one over on my knee. I barely felt anything from my knee; the bullet just grazed me. I lightly ran my fingers over the abdomen wound and found the area to still be quite sore. That wasn't surprising though. A fucking piece of rebar impaled me! The Thorian just had to get one final 'fuck you'. At least that thing was now a splatter of organic pulp at the bottom of that tower. It was just too disgusting to keep alive anyway. We should nuke it from orbit. Just to be sure.

There was something bothering me though. Why had Shepard stayed in here by my side? I understand wanting to make sure her crew is okay, but she just had the Cipher crammed into her head. Plus, she most likely melded with Liara to try and make sense of the vision. That probably was far from pleasant, especially after that long ass mission. But, she stayed until I woke up and insisted she get sleep. It was the first major injury of the mission. She could have been just extra concerned, especially having lost Jenkins back on Eden Prime. To lose another person under her command would have been a blown to her emotionally. Jenkins was young as hell, and I'm still pretty young too. That must be why.

Seeing that the ship's night cycle was at about midnight, I decided to try and fall back to sleep. Feros was tiring. My body ached in places I didn't know could ache. I was fucking impaled because of the Thorian. I would take as much sleep as I could get.

To my surprise, I was asleep again within fifteen minutes.

…

When I woke up again, I found that I was about half an hour early before anyone who wasn't on the night shift would wake up. Some toying around with my omni-tool would be a good way to chew up that time. Since mine was military grade, I wanted to see what kind of things besides and omni-blade this thing had. So, I was scrolling through the menus and all, trying to find anything relevant when I found just what I wanted. A nice little section with the words 'WEAPON APPLICATIONS' on it. My index finger clicked that instantly. What greeted my eyes made me giddy. There was an omni-axe, an omni-hammer, an omni-club! They had so many!

 _Oooo, I wanna see this one!_

I pressed the one application that caught my eye. My omni-tool's microfabricator began to shift around the sections of it and added new ones. Before I knew it, I was wielding an omni-taser. It extended out from the hand with two prongs. Between the prongs, electricity crackled. I moved and twisted my arm around to get every angle I could of the thing. It was so cool!

A sigh broke me out of my marveling.

I looked to the door of the med-bay to see Chakwas holding a cup of a steaming liquid that I assumed to be coffee. She was shaking her head.

"I was going to say that after this mission, it seems like I may be seeing you quite often," she said, walking in and setting her cup down on her desk, "but it seems that you may end up injuring yourself _while on_ the ship."

I deactivated my omni-tool completely with a chuckle. "Hey, you never know. A pipe may fall from the ceiling and knock me unconscious. Or I may headbutt Wrex again, which may result in me becoming unconscious as well."

Chakwas rolled her eyes, a slight smile tugging at her lips. "How are you feeling, Daniel?"

"Eh, okay I guess." I shrugged. "There is still a bit of soreness around the area though."

"Hmm, okay. Lean back. I'm going to put the back of the bed bed all the way down. It'll allow for a more accurate scan."

I said nothing, simply let the doctor do her thing. She brought over that scanner that she used on me when she first did a check-up on me when I came about the ship, the one that was attached to the wall next to the bed. I pulled up the gown so the my abdomen was showing. Before doing any scanning though, Chakwas carefully began to remove the bandage, the adhesive making a ripping sound as she pulled it off. I grunted a bit from the slight increase in soreness, but that was it.

"Now, turn to your left side," she told me after examining the wound.

That confused me. "Why?"

"You do remember that you were _impaled_ , correct? That means there is both an entry wound and an exit wound."

Oh my god. I completely forgot. How the hell could I forget that there was a matching wound on my back. No matter, I turned to my left and Chakwas removed that bandage that I couldn't feel was there before and had me lay on my back again.

"Both seem to be healing quite nicely," she said. "A scan will allow me to see if there is anything that tore internally since we brought you aboard the ship." With that, she started her scan of my abdomen. It was fairly quick, lasting only twenty seconds. She viewed the results on her omni-tool. "Hmm."

I gave her a look. "'Hmm'? What's 'hmm'?"

"Everything is healing quite nicely. Those gene-mods you have are doing a marvelous job at speeding up the healing process. As long as you don't do anything stupid in these next two days, you should be in the clear."

"Do I have to stay in med-bay anymore?" I asked, hopeful that I could leave.

Chakwas shook her head. "No, you are free to leave after I put fresh bandages on those wounds. I'll have someone go down to your locker and bring you a set of clothes."

"That would be much appreciated."

Chakwas walked out of the med-bay and asked a passing crew member if they could run down to my locker. They agreed. As she came back and began putting the new bandages on, I decided this would be a good time to get to 'know' her some more.

"So, doc, how'd you join the Alliance?" I asked.

She paused briefly as she put the bandage on my back. "I enlisted right after I graduated from medical school."

I knew that. What I didn't know was where she studied at. It'll give me a chance to better know the people behind the pixels and code if I asked questions that was never asked in-game. "Hmm, really? Where did you study at?"

"UCL Medical School in London," she answered, finishing up with putting the second bandage on. "You're free to leave as soon as your clothes arrive."

You see? I would have never known she went there if I didn't ask. Being free of predetermined dialogue was nice. I could learn so much about the crew that I wouldn't have learned otherwise. An example would be Garrus knowing Avitus. Wouldn't have known that from the games. "UCL, huh? I think I have heard of it. Not sure though. I lived all my life in the States."

The doc raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Where did you grow up? I can't quite place your accent, and I've been around enough marines from all over to pick up on those."

"I grew up in Pennsylvania about ninety-eight percent of my life," I said. The crew member that went to get me my clothes came in then. I took them from him and thanked him for doing that for me. Seeing that I was going to change, Chakwas pulled over the privacy curtain. I continued the conversation as I changed. "My accent though is strange. People have told me before I have one, but they are never able to pinpoint what exactly. I've been told I sound British a few times and told I sounded like I was from New York once." I grunted a bit as I began to actually get moving along. Getting impaled and laying in a bed for twelve hours really stiffens the joints, let me tell ya. "What about you? You're accent is British. Were you born in London, or somewhere else?"

"I was actually born in Aylesbury." I couldn't tell from behind the curtain, but she sounded further away. Probably sitting at her desk. There was a slight pause before she continued. I imagined that she took a sip of her coffee. "It's about an hour away from London, in Buckinghamshire County of the UK."

I nodded to her words as I sat on the bed and began putting my shoes on. They were the ones that came over with me from my universe. A simple black pair of LeBron James Nike Zoom Soldiers Eights with only the logos in white. Those things were a bit worn, but a bit of intense cleaning would bring them back up to shape.

When I was done, I pulled open the curtain to the rest of the med-bay. The movement was done a little too quickly and caused a jolt of pain to run through my wound.

"Easy, now," Chakwas said, noticing my wince and my hand going to my wound. "This first day should be taken as easy as you can, Daniel. You don't want to risk opening it up."

"Got it," I said. Not a second later, my stomach growled so loud that even Chakwas heard it. "Uh, I think I'm hungry."

"That is a fair assumption. Try not to eat anything that would cause an issue going through your digestive system. The rebar did, after all, go through some of your intestines."

As I made my way to the door, I said, "Right. That's gonna be a pleasant thought to have as I eat."

"Daniel." I stopped and looked over my shoulder at her. "I'm serious. Go easy. You could have very well died from this injury."

After glancing down at the floor, I acknowledged her words with a nod.

Moving around more made me realize how much my wound actually hurt. It was something I could deal with, but I definitely wasn't going to be doing some insane shit like combat today. Hell, I wouldn't trust lifting some heavy boxes with my wound at the moment.

Walking out the med-bay, the mess hall was found completely empty. Kaidan wasn't even at his typical spot. Then it clicked in my head that it was still early. Kaidan could still be getting dressed for the day and all. At least I hoped. I didn't want to find out some Dead Space shit happened to the crew. I never played those games, but I've watched palythroughs. Getting jumpscared were not something I wanted to happen.

 _Damn, my thoughts go off track so easily._

Anyway, I grabbed a biotic portion MRE from the cabinets nearby and sat down to eat. As I ate, I expected someone to come up to get something to eat, but it never happened. Not that I was complaining. I was used to being alone.

My mind began to think about what we would be doing next. We already knocked Therum and Feros out of the park. We could go straight to Noveria. Although, I wasn't really looking forward to that. Not after Rumple said he couldn't wait for it. Then again, we may end up doing some side mission stuff. Shepard really hadn't done much of those that took us to different worlds. There was the Luna mission. There was the Bring Down the Sky DLC. So much that could happen. But thinking about it made me realize that we are at least going to the Citadel. The ground crew would need their armor fixed up after getting Thorian Creeper acid on them.

When I finished up eating, the sound of a door opening followed by boots on metal met my ears. Looking to my right showed Shepard walking out of her cabin and towards me.

"Hey, Ironwill," she said in way too cheery voice. That set off red flags all throughout my head. Shepard wasn't this cheery. She was far from the meanest person ever, but this was a bit unsettling. "Chakwas trusted you to leave med-bay?"

"Uh, yeah," I said slowly. "I just gotta be careful the next few days."

"Good!" Suddenly, she straighten up and set a stern look on me. "My cabin. Now." Shepard walked away before I could say anything. Not that I wanted to. She was using her commanding voice, and she sounded _pissed_.

I followed her into her cabin and shut the door behind me. I went to speak, but she cut me off.

"Stand at attention, soldier," she said in a scathing tone. My body seemed to act on its own as I stood at attention. When I tried to follow her pacing with my eyes, she snapped right to me. "Eyes forward! Now, Private, do you know why you are in this situation?" Again, I didn't respond. Not that I thought I would have been able to reply anyway. Shepard was about to chew me out. "You are here because you have shown a total disregard for the chain of command and your own actions. I have given you plenty of opportunities to set your head straight simply for the fact that I brought you on this ship as a _civilian_ who had not been under the command of a military officer before. I had hoped you would understand that _I_ am the one in command here. Hanging up on the Council, disregarding my orders, threatening a civilian and not ceasing your actions when I order you to, and disrespecting an Alliance admiral are just a few thing I can list off that you have done I have had enough! Do I make myself clear, _Private_?"

"Yes, ma'am." What else could I say? Any argument would not benefit me in any way. And besides, it was the way she was speaking to me that made it hard to even think of anything to say besides 'yes, ma'am'. She wasn't yelling. Hell, her voice didn't even rise in volume. It was the undertone of disappointment in her voice that affected me.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you. Do. I. Make myself. Clear?!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Shepard took a step back and let out a breath, her expression easing up a bit. "I don't like giving those under my command a dressing down, Ironwill, but the way you have been behaving is unacceptable. That is why I plan to take action. You will, for the next two weeks, be responsible for the cleaning of the wash rooms. Second, you will be making sure all ground team's armor are properly cleaned after each and every mission until otherwise specified. Last, I will have you write a one thousand word, formal apology to Admiral Mikhailovich due at the end of tomorrow. I have also informed Alenko and Williams that should you show any disregard for orders or show unacceptable behavior, they can issue disciplinary action if I am not present. You will also be staying behind for the next three missions. Understood?"

The next three? Did that mean main missions or side missions? Because there were only three main missions left. I couldn't really question that, so I just said a quick, "Yes, ma'am!"

"Dismissed, Private." To make sure I didn't get on her bad side anymore, I simply gave the best salute I could before leaving her cabin.

My first reaction was to strangle Rumple. I wouldn't be acting like this if he would just fix whatever he did to me. This wasn't how I acted! It wasn't me. Whatever it was had to be due to my two amps and whatever else was done to me.

My second reaction was that I need to shoot something. Repeatedly. So that was what my plan became. I set down to the cargo bay to get my M16 from my locker then head up to the range.

In the elevator, I just lean against the wall and sighed. It wasn't that I felt it wasn't justified that Shepard chewed me out, it was the fact that it was someone I was considering a friend that made me feel… I don't know. Depressed? No, that didn't sound right. Awful? No. I couldn't quite place it, but I didn't like the feeling.

Truthfully though, I deserved it. I had been acting horribly at times that my amps could not have affected me. The meeting with the Council that proved Saren was guilty was one that came into my mind. Hanging up on the Council was another. Actually, that one I didn't regret. I would hang up on those idiots again if I could.

The elevator finally reached the cargo bay. I stepped out and gave the area a quick glance. Garrus was on top of the Mako, neck deep in the side of the main gun of the tank. I heard from were I was him mumbling to himself. _Calibrations. Geez, it's starting early._

Wrex was over my the crates… being Wrex. He was simply glowering at everything. Probably the air as well! Anyway, further down was Ash at her typical spot working on her rifle. The weapon was in many pieces that were spread over the surface of the table in an organized fashion. Ash seemed to be enjoying the task of cleaning the rifle. She looked generally relaxed.

"Hey, Daniel," she greeted me.

I gave a small smile. "Hi, Ash."

"How's…?" She pointed towards the spot the rebar went through me, making a circular motion with her index finger. "There was a decent amount of blood. I'm actually surprised Chakwas let you out."

My hand went to my wound. Just thinking about it made it hurt more. "It's okay, I guess. Hurts like hell still, but I'm not surprised by that. Doc said to take it easy the next two days."

Ash nodded and resumed cleaning her rifle.

I walked pass her and to the lockers. On top of the lockers were the armors of those who were on Feros. They all showed signs of acid damage to them. It was appearance only that was affected, but it sure didn't look nice. Liara's armor was in the best condition, but mine…

The instant my eyes go over my armor, my heart dropped. It was in terrible condition. Lots and lots of grey patches where Creeper acid burned the paint away. Right where the rebar went through me, the spot was cracked open with a hole smaller than my fist. The edges of the hole were jagged and rough. I grabbed the chest piece and ran my hand over the surface, small patches of smooth paint breaking up the mostly rough and grainy acid-wore spots.

"The acid was a bitch, huh?" Ash asked from her spot, apparently having taken notice of me looking at my armor.

I chuckled lightly. "My armor took a lot more than the rest of you."

"You did have one of those thing explode right on you."

A shiver ran through me at that memory. That was nasty as all hell. "Don't remind me. The smell stayed with me the entire time." I sniffed the chest piece in my hands, immediately regretting it after. "Fucking hell! It's still lingering on there!" I put the piece of armor back on top of my locker. "I'm gonna need to wash my hands thoroughly now."

Ash smirked. "That should be done after you clean all our armor, right?"

I blinked, surprised. How did she know about that? Shepard just told me I'm going to be doing that. "How do you know about that?"

"I heard Shepard gave you quite the dressing down not long ago. I mean, damn. Getting chewed out by Commander Shepard. What an event."

"Jesus, I know news can travel fast, but this is ridiculous." It honestly was. That just happened not twenty minutes before. Was I going to get shit for it? I hoped not. I would hate having to explain why I biotically throttled a crewmate.

"Welcome to the Alliance, kid. Marines like to gossip more than old women."

Did she just call me… _kid_? I was twenty-one years old! That is the age of a legal adult in the United States! I wasn't some kid… "Kid?"

"You're twenty-one, right?" I nodded. "I'm older. Therefore, you're a kid compared to me." She flashed a grin that showed she enjoyed me being called kid.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Twenty-five."

I scoffed. "That's just a four year difference!"

"Whatever you say… _kid._ "

I pinched the bridge of my nose. There was nothing I could do to stop her. Ash was going to taunt me by calling me kid from now on… Eh, I'll get over it.

"Sooooo," I drew out the word, leaning against the lockers. My eyes quickly scanned the room because I truthfully just wanted to change the subject, and I had nothing to talk about. Until I saw Garrus still at work on the Mako. "What are your thoughts about the alien crew members since we have been with them a little?"

Ash slid a part of her rifle in place with a satisfying click. "I'm still weary of them," _buuuut,_ "but they have shown so far that the are allies. I'm willing to give them a chance."

YES! Progress! "That's good to hear. They're good people." I glanced over at Wrex and smirked. "Okay, maybe not the big guy over there."

"I can hear you, you know!" Wrex grumbled from where he stood.

"You were meant to!" I was grinning.

Then Wrex smirked back. "Just like you meant to become the first person Shepard has ever chewed out?"

"You know about it too?!"

The old krogan gave a rumbling chuckle. "I'm pretty sure the entire ship knows about that."

Garrus poked his head out from the Mako's gun. "I know about it."

I sighed. Seeing that my conversation with Ash was over, and my urge to go to the range having evaporated, I walked to where Wrex was. I needed to talk to the crew more, and he was right there. Hopefully I could show him that I'm not weak some more. Headbutting him before gained me some respect, but I wanted to see how much more I could get. I felt like I had to prove to him I was tough… for a human.

"How's it going, Wrex?" I asked, leaning against a set of crates next to him.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" he said. "You were close to not being that yesterday. Saw them haul your unconscious ass onto the ship on a gurney."

"A piece of rebar went through my stomach," I explained.

He huffed. "Someone tougher would have walked it off."

I crossed my arms. "Maybe a krogan. Humans don't have redundant organs, Wrex."

"That's a shame,' he deadpanned.

"Come on. You must have not been as tough as you are today at some point in your life."

"I grew up on Tuchanka. You're either strong, or you're dead on that dust heap. It's as simple as that."

That opened up an opportunity to try and get to 'know' Wrex better. "You must have a bunch of good stories then."

"Well, there was this one time the turians almost wiped out our race. That was fun," he responded.

"Geez, you're just a bundle of joy, huh?" I asked sarcastically.

Wrex glared at me. "When your species gets infected with a genetic mutation, you tend to get a bit cynical."

"The genophage."

He raised an eyebrow at me, looking intrigued. "So you've heard of it?"

Should I try to go into full detail, or just a simple version that makes it seem like I've done some research? Second option seemed best. "Yeah, I have. Turians deployed it as a way to stop the Krogan Rebellions. Apparently, it reduces fertility rates, making it so less baby krogan are born."

"More or less," he said with a nod. "But, I suppose it doesn't matter. I gave up on the krogan a while ago. While we were infected with the genophage, it isn't what's killing us."

"How so?" I asked, trying to sound genuinely interested. Not that I wasn't, mind you, but I have heard this before.

Wrex scoffed. "Most krogan just want to get out of our system. They go, hire themselves out, and never return. We're warriors. We crave fights. That's what's gonna doom our race."

"Oh? How is that gonna end the krogan?"

Wrex scrunched up his face. He leaned back against the crates some more and crossed his arms. "Another time, maybe. I'm done talking about this now."

Well, that's quite a polite way to say 'fuck off'. Since Wrex was done talking to me, I figured I would go over to Garrus and chat him up a bit. He was far nicer than Wrex, and I felt that the two of us had the start of a good friendship going on. It was a stroke of luck, that. Garrus was one of my favorites from the games. Then again, he was probably lots of people's favorite.

When I got close to the Mako, Garrus was just reaching for a tool without pulling his head out of the gun. The tool, which looked to be a screwdriver of sorts, slipped off the edge of the tank when his talon tapped it.

"Ah, hells," he muttered.

"Hey, Garrus," I said, leaning up against the Mako. "Need some help?"

He poked his head out and looked down. "Yeah, can you toss that back up? I'm almost done with this thing."

I nodded and bent down to pick up the screwdriver. As I did, I felt a pull and a sharp pain from my wound. A hiss escaped my clenched teeth. My thoughts instantly when to thinking that I just torn the wound open, but when I stood up straight, the pain receded.

Garrus, having heard the hiss, said, "Spirits. I'm sorry, Daniel. It totally escaped me that you're just starting to heal from yesterday."

"It's okay. It's feels fine now." I tossed the tool up to him, and he caught it easily, giving me a quick nod of thanks. "So, what exactly are you doing up there?"

"Trying to calibrate the heat system of the gun. If this works, it should be able to put out more rounds before overheating. I plan to work on the rocket firing system after. Try to get that to load in another rocket faster."

I hummed, nodding my agreement to the task he was doing. "That sounds like it'll be quite helpful. More bullets going down range could be a lifesaver."

"My thoughts exactly." I heard Garrus grunt slightly followed by something clicking into place. "Hah! Got it!" He leaned back from the gun and started wiping grease off of his talons with a grimy rag he had next to him. "So, Daniel, was there something you needed, or just making the rounds like Shepard does?"

"Just here to talk, _Detective_ ," I said with a smirk. He didn't like being called that, so I was going to annoy him with it.

He groaned as he hopped off the Mako. "I thought I said not to call me that."

I chuckled. "Yeah, but it annoys you and give me entertainment. I'mma keep doing it."

Garrus rolled his eyes. Then his one eyebrow rose up a bit and his mandibles spread wide just a bit. What was that? A smile? "Well, I guess two can play at that game, _Mr. Ironwill_."

Now I knew what that expression was. The cocky bastard was smirking at me. "Oh, you just started a war, Detective."

"May the best man win," Garrus chuckled, extending a talon out. I chuckled as well as I shook the offered talon.

"So, I've been wondering," I began, crossing my arms, "how was it like at C-Sec? You were a detective there. You must have some interesting tales from there."

Garrus leaned up on the Mako, too, crossing his arms. "There is a lot to tell. Anything specific that you want to hear?"

Humming in thought a moment, I decided to start simple. "Why did you join C-Sec in the first place?"

He shrugged. "Probably the reason most officers join; to fight injustice and help people." _Shouldn't he be mentioning his father?_ "I guess I could say my father had a part in it, too. He was C-Sec as well. One of the best. I grew up hearing about all of his accomplishments, seeing his face on the vids after a big arrest. He was proud when I joined C-Sec. I suppose that's another reason why he's taking me resignation pretty hard."

"But he must be impressed you're on a mission to go after a Spectre. More importantly, that Spectre is Saren who, until recently, was the Council's top Spectre."

Garrus shook his head. "My father is difficult. He's a C-Sec man to the bone. 'Do things right, or don't do them at all,' he says."

I smirked. "Huh, that sounds like a saying I like, but the complete opposite."

"Oh? And what saying is that?"

"Do it with style, or don't do it at all!"

"That sounds like my kind of saying," Garrus laughed. "My father would say otherwise though. He thinks I'm being too rash, too impatient by leaving C-Sec to go after Saren. He's worried I'll become just like him. Actually, he talked me out of being a Spectre when I was younger. For the same exact reasons."

I looked over at him in 'surprise'. I knew that, though. "You could have been a Spectre."

The turian rubbed the back of his scaly neck. "Well, I was targeted as a possible Spectre candidate. It's not really that special when about a thousand other turian military recruits were targeted as well. There was the opportunity for me to receive special training, but my father didn't allow it."

"Hmm, seems like he doesn't like Spectres," I observed.

"That's exactly it. He despises them. He doesn't like the idea of someone having unlimited power while having no accountability." Garrus shrugged. "That's why he wouldn't like the Commander."

"That's not entirely fair to her. He never met her."

"True, but my father stands by his views." He went silent at that, and we just stood there for a few moments. Until Garrus spoke up again. "What about you, Mr. Ironwill? Why'd you join the Alliance?"

That question actually caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting it. Then again, he wasn't restricted by set lines of dialogue here. He could ask whatever he wanted. "Well, Detective, my reasons for joining the Alliance are a bit more simpler than your reasons for joining C-Sec."

Garrus raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Oh? How so?"

"Well, I had thought about joining the military back in my younger teen years. That passed before being sort of rekindled, I guess."

"Rekindled, how?"

"I tagged along with Shepard. I found out I'm good at fighting. Why waste that doing something mundane when I could use it to help. That's why I asked Shepard if there was a way she could get me into the Alliance. Also, it let's my presence on the ship be more legitimate."

Nodding to my words, Garrus said, "Fair reasons." He was about to say something else when a sound of crackling electricity came from above us followed by a rain of sparks. The Mako's gun was spitting out sparks from the open compartment on the side of it. "Ah, damn. Daniel, I would love to chat some more, but I need to see to that. Shepard would be pissed if the gun wasn't operable before the next mission."

I watched as he climbed back up the Mako. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

Garrus looked back down a moment with that expression I deduced was a smirk. "Anyway, don't you have some armor or wash rooms to clean?"

I simply gave him the middle finger, a grin on my face. The gun began throwing out more sparks, so Garrus gave a simple wave in return and went straight to work on the gun.

Now, what to do now?

…

 _ **A/N: Eh, not much to say here. This was a simple chapter, but it pushes character relationship forward a bit and FINALLY got Daniel chewed out. I had been planning that for quite a few chapters now. Will he be the perfect soldier who follows all the orders and all? Maybe. Maybe not.**_

 _ **So, I couldn't really think of a good credit song for this chapter that really fit well with it as a whole, so I just picked**_ 'Human by Rag N Bones Man' ** _. It kinda goes with the fact the Daniel got chewed out but how he has been acting isn't entirely his fault. But let me know how you're liking the credit song thing._**

 _ **Next chapter is gonna be laid back as well, but I hope it's really fun with what I have in mind.**_

 _ **So, if your enjoyed, leave a follow, fave, and all that good stuff. I really enjoy reading any reviews I get on the story. I think any author on here really enjoy reading those.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	14. Chapter 14 Shore Leave

_**A/N: So, I can explain why this chapter took so long to get out. I had to find a new internet provider. My old one wasn't going to be covering our area anymore or something. Um, college is still kicking my ass. Luckily, I have mostly art-based classes. Oh, and I began putting together my first gaming PC! Just waiting for the CPU and liquid cooling system I bought to arrive. It's killing me to wait!**_

 _ **Now, I wanted to thank all those that reviewed, followed and favorited since last time.**_ **Watchers** ** _nearly has 140 follows and nearly 80 favorites. That's honestly is so insane! I'm only about halfway through the story, maybe a little less, and it has surpassed my expectations of what it was going to accomplish. Thank you. And for that, I want to try and write more often to get more chapters out. Because I have big plans for the following stories. I just hope you guys now will stick around through the rest of this one first._**

 _ **Anyway, enough of that!**_

 _ **On to the show!**_

…

Since I had already talked to three members of the ground crew, I decided to make my way to Engineering to talk with Tali. Last I saw her was in the Thorian's lair, and my head was a bit muddled from blood loss to really say anything at the time. God, now that I thought about it, I must have looked like shit when Shepard and Ash (I think Ash was the other person who was helping me back up to the colony) were helping me. With my armor being all acid burnt, a piece of rebar sticking out of my stomach, and blood dripping onto the ground, that must have been an unpleasant sight.

I walked into the Engineering through the door closest to everyone's favorite quarian. She was at her usual spot, typing away at a terminal by her. Should I make my presence known to her, or surprise her and see how she reacts? Yup, I was gonna go with the second option.

My footsteps were quiet as I approached her. When I was right behind her, I spoke.

"Hey, Tali."

She practically jumped several inches into the air as she let out a surprised squeal and turned around. " _Keelah_ , Daniel! You shouldn't sneak up to people like that."

"But where's the fun in that?" I asked between laughing.

Judging by the way her head moved, I was guessing she just rolled her eyes at me. "It's good to see you up, though. Back on Feros, it looked pretty bad. I mean, you had a piece of metal sticking out of you!"

"Going through me," I corrected her. "The rebar went right through me, Tali."

"Still, you could have died! I'm happy to see that you're up so soon, though. An injury like that to a quarian would be certain death."

"Because your immune system isn't the best, right?"

Tali nodded. "That is correct."

"Why is that, though?" I asked, leaning to one side on the rail next to me.

"Oh," Tali began doing that little thing with her hands. "Well, our homeworld did not have much in terms of viruses and the such. So, our immune systems never had the chance to strengthen. It further weakened over the three hundred years living in the sterile ships."

Damn, that sucked ass. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to worry about simple colds. "Do you hope that may change one day?"

Tali nodded. "Yes. I would love to be able to go anywhere without wearing a suit. But first, we would need to retake our home from the geth."

"Why did the geth rebel, exactly?" I asked. I wanted to try and see if I could push the fact that not all geth were bad.

"As you probably already know, the geth were created to do simple tasks. They were never meant to become fully self-aware," Tali began, incorporating many little hand gestures as she spoke. "The more geth we built though, the more their intelligence became sophisticated. It was one day when a geth unit asked its quarian overseer questions about the nature of its existence. Am I alive? Why am I here? What is my purpose?"

 _Does this unit have a soul?_

"You're people panicked," I stated simply.

"Indeed. The geth were made to perform mundane, repetitive, or dangerous manual labor. Machines wouldn't complain about that. Sentient life on the other hand would."

I crossed my arms. "You believed that, since they were starting to become sentient, they would think they were being treated as slaves and rebel."

"Yes. We acted first, to prevent that. A general order was sent out to permanently deactivate all geth units across all quarian-controlled worlds. The geth responded to the order violently."

"They were defending themselves. Any being with self-preservation would have fought back."

"Yes, but… we didn't think most of the geth had advanced so much. We had hoped there were still little more than machines. The war that followed was long and blood. Millions of my kind died. In the end, we were forced to flee our own homeworld." Tali looked towards the ground slightly as she finished.

Well, time to push my point a bit. "You feared they would follow you. They didn't. Why would that be?"

"They had what they wanted. The geth now had our homeworld."

I took a quick breath. "Okay, Tali, now I'mma suggest something that I've been thinking about. You ready to hear it?" She looked hesitant a moment but nodded. "What if the geth never wanted to fight? What if they didn't pursue because they were safe from harm and saw no purpose in chasing you?"

"Then explain why the geth are with Saren," Tali counted, putting her hands on her hips.

"Perhaps the geth allied with Saren are only a small portion of the whole. Maybe the rest of them don't want to cause harm to organics. Ever think of that?"

Tali sort of deflated as she took in what I said. "No. But… it could be possible."

I smiled. "So, you're willing to have an open mind about that?" She nodded. "Good!"

Before anything else could be said, the ship's intercom came to life and Joker's voice echoed through it. " _ETA to Citadel: fifteen minutes._ "

Looking up at the ceiling, I said, "Huh, so that's where we're going next." I looked back at Tali. "Well, this talk has been fun, Tali, but I'm gonna get going. I have a crippled pilot to point and laugh at now."

Not fully grasping why I was going to do that, Tali gave an unsure 'bye' before returning to her work. I hoped she would start to really think about what I said about the geth. It will make our encounter with Legion a bit easier. But enough about geth, now I planned to talk it up with Joker. I hadn't talked with him as much as the rest of the crew. He was a very likable character in the games, which is why I constantly would go to him to see if he had new dialogue.

After a long ass elevator ride and a quick walk to the front of the CIC, I stood right behind Joker's seat. As expected, he was right where he typically was. I guess that didn't come as a surprise. Joker rarely left that chair on the account of his Vrolik Syndrome. A syndrome I would make fun of him with. It's all in good fun anyway. I'll jokingly insult him, he can do the same in return. At the end of the day, who can you insult if not your friends?

The view out the windows was quite impressive as it always was. I didn't think I would ever get tired of seeing the blue streaks of FTL travel outside the ship. It was just so… calming, I guess. You could just stare at it for hours and not get tired of it.

Anyway, I put my arms on the top of Joker's chair, gaining his attention. "Hey, flyboy."

"How's it going, Daniel?" He greeted, glancing up a moment before going back to the ship's controls. "Finally over getting chewed out?"

I groaned, rolling my head. "Does everyone on the ship seriously know about that?"

"Dude, you got chewed out by _Commander Shepard_. She never does that. It actually surprised _me_. You just made history or something with that. She's always so laid back."

"Well, then maybe I should consider that an accomplishment," I said with a smirk.

I could practically hear the eye roll from Joker. "Whatever you want, buddy."

I moved around the chair and stood next to it to face him. "So, I have a question for you."

"If it's whether I ever needed to use a wheelchair, the answer is no. Only ever crutches," he replied.

"No, no. That's not it. Your nickname: 'Joker'. How did you get it?" I looked down at him with a smirk. "Did you get in a fight with a guy in a bat costume?"

He chuckled at that but shook his head. "Yeah, like I haven't heard _that one_ before. No, actually back in flight school, one of my instructors gave me the nickname because I never smiled. Never stopped bugging me about it. The nickname kinda stuck."

"Let me guess; you had one of those emo haircuts with the straightened flippy hair, too? That's why you never smiled?"

"Hold on," he said. I watched as he moved his hands about the holographic panel in front of him. It wasn't like I knew what the hell he was doing. Until the ship came out of FTL and gave way to a stunning view of the Citadel and all of the ships going to and from it. Joker turned his attention back to me. "To your question, no. I didn't have an emo haircut. I worked my ass off in flight school. The world's not going to hand you anything if you go around grinning like an idiot. By the end of the year, I was the best pilot there. Better than the instructors. And everyone knew it." Joker grew this prideful smile on his face. "Everyone got shown up by the sickly kid with creaky legs. You don't have to be a genius to figure out who was grinning at graduation."

I nodded to that, impressed to hear he was better than even his instructors. "Since you are the best, would you ever consider becoming an instructor at flight school some years down the line?"

Joker's face scrunched up in thought. "You know what, I never gave that any thought. Now that you mentioned it, it would be a solid plan if I ever get too old to pilot military ships in combat."

"Yeah. You can show those young pilots that anyone can achieve their goals. Even boys who can get a shattered bone from getting hit with a feather."

"And what are you going to do after you get old, show young soldiers how to piss off their commanding officers?" Joker retorted.

I grinned. "I just might do that. Thanks for the great idea, flyboy."

Joker just rolled his eyes and chuckled. "As great as this talk is, I gotta concentrate to pilot my baby here into dock." I nodded in understanding and gave him a casual two-finger salute before walking away. "Oh, and Daniel?" I half turned to see him looking around his chair. "Not sure if anyone has told you this, but I have a thing of ice cream in the fridge down there. No touchy. Got it?"

A massive mischievous smile came to my face. "Well, with that said, I guess it's time for me to get some ice cream." I spun around and strode down the CIC, Joker's protests falling on intentionally deaf ears.

Passing Pressly, I gave him a little nod in greeting.

"Private," he returned with a nod of his own.

I was going to need to get my armor repaired, so that was what I was going to get. Without knowing how long we were going to be there, heading to Av's right after we docked would be the best course of action. For all I knew, this was just going to be a quick little stop to restock before heading out. But since Shepard hadn't done much in terms of side missions, our stay at the Citadel might be a longer one. She was probably going to take this time to knock out a fair few of those. Hopefully, she would be considering side missions for the three missions that I was being grounded from.

As usual, the elevator was agonizingly slow. Maybe I could figure out how to do that biotic teleport thing the banshees and N7 Furies could do in _Mass Effect 3_. Anything to bypass these damn elevators. Then again, with my luck, I would teleport and get stuck in a wall. Becoming a wall decoration like Han Solo was not something I had any motive in doing.

When the elevator doors finally opened to the cargo bay, I couldn't help but shout, "Final-fucking-ly!"

That earned curious looks from all around, even from the requisitions officer tucked in the corner of the room. I paid them no mind as I went to my locker and pulled out my armor case from underneath the weapons bench and began placing my armor pieces inside. It hurt so much to see my armor in such a horrible condition, all grey and rough to touch. Plus the jagged hole didn't help either.. Avitus would make it all better though. He was a damn maestro with armor and weapons.

The ship shook slightly, and the intercom came to life. " _We have now docked at the Citadel. Thank you for riding the Joker Express. Please come again._ "

"That's probably the only time he'll ever get to say thanks for someone riding him," I said sarcastically, more to myself than anything. It was loud enough that Ash heard it, though, and she laughed quite loudly.

She shook her as she finished laughing, a smile still on her face. "You are such an asshole."

"Yeah, I know. It's great, isn't it?"

I continued to pack up my armor, which made my wound began to ache from crouching down, as everyone else in the cargo bay began to finish up the current tasks they were on. Ash had cleaned her pistol and shotgun since I had talked to her. Up on the Mako, Garrus must have fixed whatever blew and began sparking on the turret because he was already finishing the modification to the rocket firing system. Then there was Wrex being, you know… Wrex. He doesn't really do much on the ship, does he? Eh, he's here to be our mean killing machine that can take quite the beating as well. He had a hard head, too. I would know. Head-butting him might have given me slight brain damage. Just remembering it made my forehead sore.

When my armor was all packed in the case, I hopped to my feet with a clap of my hands. It wasn't the best idea since a spike of pain shot through my wound from the sudden action. After a moment to let the pain go away, I reached into my locker and pulled out my jacket and put it on slowly. Next was my Phalanx, which I tucked against my belt, and my portable shield generator, which went into my back pocket. I never understood why soldiers that were biotics couldn't have both shields and biotic barrier up at the same time in the games. Perhaps it was due to gameplay reasons. Here though? I can have double the protection.

The elevator door opened again and out came the shy asari doctor who would become a badass in two years. A beautiful badass, might I add. Now that I thought about it, pretty much all asari were beautiful. Not a single ugly asari came to mind. There are ones with ugly personalities, just not in appearance. Anyway, Liara began walking over to the lockers.

"Hey, Liara," I greeted.

She blinked quickly and looked surprised. "Oh. Hello, Daniel."

"Where you lost in thought?"

"Yes, I was," she replied. Liara went right to her locker and pulled out her armor case. It was much smaller than mine. That was probably due to her using light armor.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Mind if I ask what you were thinking about?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. I was merely thinking about what I saw last night when I melded with the Commander."

"Ah, that's right. The beacon's vision and the Cipher. That must have been quite the thing to see the vision more clearly."

"Yes, it was," she smiled then frowned. "Although, the vision Shepard received from the Eden Prime beacon was incomplete. All I saw were what we all already know. The Reapers and the Prothean extinction. It is obvious there is a connection between those two and the Conduit. All we would need is the missing section of the vision."

"I bet Saren has it," I said confidently. Well, I did know it was true.

"I believe the same as well."

I nodded. "That must have taken a toll on you. You feeling okay after last night?"

"Much better. Thank you for asking. What about you, Daniel? You were seriously injured back on Feros. I was quite surprised to see you not in the med-bay when I awoke this morning."

My hand lightly rubbed my wound. "Eh, this?" I smirked. "Tis but a scratch!"

Liara tilted her head as a perplexed look crossed her features.

"You didn't get that reference," I muttered. Louder, "It's okay, Liara. The good doctor upstairs said that I should be fit for duty in about two days."

"I am happy to hear. You are quite the resilient human, Daniel. Others of your species would have been bed-ridden for at least two days due to an injury such as yours."

I shrugged. "Eh, what can I say. I'm oddly unique." _Yeah, because who else in this universe is from a totally different universe?_

As the two of us talked, Ash and Tali had come to the lockers and begun packing their armor away. We were all on the Feros mission. All of our armor had received some sort of acid damage. Mostly cosmetic, but we had time on the Citadel to get that fixed. Seeing that nearly everyone, minus Shepard, who was on Feros was around me, I decided to make a joke.

"Ah, look! Everyone who saw me get impaled is here," I said in a tone way too cheery for what I was saying.

"Wow, Daniel, that's morbid," Tali responded.

"That was the point."

Everyone, whether they were done with their tasks or done getting their damaged armor, all made their way to the elevator. It was a bit packed in there, even more so with half of the occupancy carrying their armor cases. Besides the ground crew members, Adams and the requisitions officer got in with us. Wrex was taking up a lot of room on his own. A four hundred pound krogan would do that.

"So," I cleared my throat, trying to get some noise going in the slug-paced elevator. No one was talking. It was getting kind of awkward. "How is everyone doing today?"

That got various replies ranging from 'good' to 'fine' to 'can't complain'. Wrex even grunted. I wasn't sure what that meant, but since it was him, I was going to just say he was doing fine. Maybe I'll find him a nice person he can intimidate on the Citadel. That might make him more vocal.

When the elevator stopped and the door finally opened, we all hurried out. Crowded elevators were never a fun experience, especially when the other people are strangers.

Adams and the req officer went towards the coffee pot while the rest of us made our way to the front of the ship. Walking up the CIC, I noticed that some of the crew must have already gone ashore. It was more empty than before. And right by the airlock was Shepard, wearing a zip-up N7 hoodie with a white shirt underneath and a sort of futuristic-looking jeans. Shepard looked quite nice in casual attire, in fact. She was having a conversation with Kaidan. Which reminded me, I had not seen him at all today.

"Well, would you look at this," I said, waving my hand over the entire group. "The whole gang is here."

"And you're looking much better, Daniel," Kaidan pointed out.

I gave a nonchalant shrug. "What can I say? Chakwas is a miracle worker."

"And I see that those of us needing our armor repaired have them," Shepard observed. She was right. All of five of us (Shepard had her armor case at her feet) had our cases with us.

We all piled into the airlock and waited for the decontamination cycle to go through. The cramped airlock, long ass decon time, and the droning voice of the ship's VI was enough to start to drive us insane. I heard several set of feet tapping impatiently. It was after about the sixth time the VI droned ' _decontamination in progress_ ' that I was fairly certain everyone was on the verge of tearing the door open. Hell, I was becoming so annoyed that the hot tingle near my amps started to appear. Thankfully though, the VI informed us that the cycle was complete and that Pressly had the deck.

The sight of seven skilled killers practically dashing out of the _Normandy_ 's airlock must have been a comical one.

I walked up next to Garrus and nudged him with my elbow to get his attention. "So, what do you have planned while we are here?"

"I planned to stop by C-Sec first, say hi to one of my buddies from there. He was actually my partner for a while before I came aboard with Shepard," he replied.

He had a partner at C-Sec? Huh, that is definitely interesting. Time for my curious side to take over! "A partner? Wow. How long have you two known each other?"

"We have known each other for two years now. Surprising thing is that he is a human. One of the very few to make it to detective at C-Sec. He's one of my closest friends, actually."

I nodded as he spoke. "Huh, that's really interesting. What's his name?"

Garrus made a gesture with his talon. "Eh, you wouldn't know him. He's British."

"Well, good luck with that," I glanced over to the nearby Rapid Transport Station. "I got a cab to catch. I want to get my armor to Av as soon as possible."

"Gotcha," he said with a snap of his talons. "Make sure to tell him I'll come by later to say hello."

I gave him a thumbs up before making my way to the Rapid Transport Station. The females of the group were about to go towards the elevator that leads to C-Sec when I called to them.

"Hey!" I shouted. "You four going to get you armor all patched up?"

"Yeah, we are," Shepard said. "You're not?"

I shook my head. "No, I am. But the place I'm going to could do a better job than wherever you're going."

Shepard set her case down and crossed her arms. "Oh really? Is that so?"

"Yes, really. The place is own by a buddy of Garrus. He set me up with all my armor and weapons. Those haven't let me down yet. What do you say? Care to join me?"

"Any objections?" Shepard asked the others. They all shook their heads. "Alright. Let's go then."

We hailed a cab and piled in. This was a VI piloted one. Shepard and I got in the front seats while Ash, Tali, and Liara piled into the back. They were all thin enough to fit comfortably back there. Ash tried to sit as close to the window as she could while Tali sat in the middle and Liara next to her. It wasn't the much of a display of xenophobia by her; she was talking with the two back there. Maybe she was simply a bit claustrophobic.

Shepard was flicking away at her omni-tool. A single strand of her hair was dangling just over her right eye. She brushed it to the side and behind her ear as her focus remained on whatever she was looking at. That simple action made this odd feeling kind of spread through me. Pass over me, would be a better thing to say. Shepard looked so calm and peaceful. You wouldn't believe she was this badass N7 and first human Spectre. At that moment, she seemed normal and…

"What?"

I blinked and lightly shook my head. Shepard was looking at me. Shit, was I staring? I had to of been staring. Fuck! Why was I staring? I mean, she was attractive, but I pass by lots of attractive women and not stare. Liara was attractive; I didn't stare at her. Ash was fairly attractive; I also didn't stare at her. And hell, Shepard was still looking at me for a response. What to say, what to say…

"Oh, I was just thinking about how much nicer it is to be in a vehicle that you're not driving," I hurriedly made up. It was true, now that I had time to think on it. Compared to having Shepard driving the Mako, this was like a vacation in a five star hotel in the Bahamas.

"I'm not that bad of a driver!" She protested.

"Uh-huh, let's see what the others have to say." I looked back to the other three females with us. "Is the Commander here a bad driver or no?"

Shepard looked back at them also to await their reply. Ash suddenly found the sights outside the window quite interesting. Tali opened up her omni-tool as she muttered something about 'system diagnosis'. Liara gave a weak chuckle as she rubbed her arm slowly.

I tilted my head as I smirked at Shepard. "I think that answers that."

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest with a light thump. "Meanies."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. _Commander Shepard_ just called us 'meanies'. It's not everyday when you can be around when an event like that happens. Reporters would have a field day with this. The headlines would read 'Lioness of Elysium's feelings hurt. Calls crew members meanies'.

The aircar settled down right outside of Avitus' place, just as I requested. Av was a breath of fresh air compared to Garrus. While Garrus was kind of serious and a bit cynical, Avitus was up-beat and energetic. I could tell by some of the armors he had displayed in the windows. They had intricate designs and colorful designs. Aaannnd he also had apparently put up a sign in the shop's window. Huh, Av was having a sale on all bladed weaponry. Maybe I would get something. Would it be necessary? Nope. But having an extra knife never hurt… unless you were on the receiving end of that knife. Then it would hurt a lot.

Stepping into the shop, while the girls followed behind, I spread my arms out wide and announced I was there. "I have graced you with my presence yet again. You should feel honored, Av." I grimaced as I quickly put my arms back down when my wound started to hurt. My hand instinctively went to the spot.

"Daniel!" the cheery turian said, slapping his talons on the counter. "How the hell have you been, buddy?" He then noticed I was in a bit of pain. "You okay, man?"

I waved his concern away. "Eh, nothing major. Just got a bit injured last mission."

"Oh! What happened?"

"Like I said, nothing major."

Shepard cleared her throat loudly, giving me a disappointed look. "'Nothing major'? Ironwill, you had a piece of rebar go through your stomach. You could have died."

"Aw, you care," I said with a grin. "How sweet." Shepard bit her lip, looking away slightly, while Ash shook her head with a slight smile. What? Why were they doing that?

"Wait, wait, wait!" Avitus exclaimed. "You got a piece of rebar skewered through you?" I nodded. "Spirits, Daniel, she's right. You could have died!"

I groaned. "I know. Nearly everyone has reminded me of that in the last several hours alone."

Av made a calming gesture. "Alright, alright. I won't bring up your near-death experience again. Now, besides, 'gracing me with your presence', was there anything else you came here for?"

"Actually, there was," I said with a snap of my fingers. With a glance to the other four, I went on. "We need armor repairs done. Most cosmetic. You think you can handle it?"

"Do I think I can handled it…" He scoffed. "Five sets of armor should be easier than beating Garrus in a bet. That's pretty easy, mind you."

Now what was this about Garrus and betting. "He's easy to beat in a bet?"

"Oh, yeah! He may be good with strategy and using that rifle of his, but once money gets involved, forget about it! It's like his decision-making skills go out the window, as the idiom goes."

"What's the worst he has ever lost in a bet?"

Avitus laughed. "You aren't going to believe this! So, this is back during our tour in the military. Now, Garrus had his eyes on this girl for a few months now. He tried to hide it, but everyone knew. I decided to move things along. I told him 'I bet you fifty credits you won't try and get with that by the end of tomorrow'. Garrus, being the cocky bastard he is, says he bets _two thousand_ that he'll get her by the end of that day. You know what this dumbass does?"

"No, but I _bet_ your gonna tell me?"

"'Bet'." He chuckled. "I got that. Anyway, Garrus, while at the range with his rifle, gets distracted by her when she comes in. Misfires his gun. The scope clonks him in the forehead and knocks him out good. When he woke up, just after midnight, the first thing I tell him is that I was now two thousand credits richer." That got everyone in the store laughing.

"Are you serious about that?" Ash asked between laughs.

"As serious as an infection from a varren bite, ma'am." Av turned back to me. "So, you want to pay now, Daniel? If I start soon, I can get these done in an hour or so."

"Sure," I tapped my hands on the counter. "How bad is the bank gonna get hurt from these?"

Av hummed in thought, talon tapping in chin. "For you, fifteen hundred."

"Seems reasonable for five sets." I turned to the four girls. "Ladies, would you kindly place your armor cases on the counter for the fine gentleman." That earned a chuckle from Liara and Tali. The Commander rolled her eyes, but a smile was pulling at her lips. Ash walked up to me and handed me her case.

"Would you kindly put my case up there for me, good man?" She asked in a slight British accent.

I shook my head and chuckled lightly, putting both of our cases on the counter. I scanned my omni-tool and paid the full amount there and then to make things easier. "See ya later?"

Av smiled. "Certainly. When you get back, these thing will be in better condition than before they got trashed." He opened my case and his eyes widened. "Okay, maybe this will be a bit more difficult than anticipated. What did you do to this, roll around in acid?"

"A fairly accurate assumption," Liara commented.

"Huh. Well, you'll have to tell me about it later. I should get started on the repairs sooner rather than later."

As we all went towards the door to leave, I gave Av a two-finger salute. "Sounds good, buddy. Peace."

Liara, Tali, and Ash had things they wanted to attend to while on the Citadel, so those three broke off from the group. That left just me and Shepard. Instantly, my mind wanted to start annoying Shepard. Well… annoying is what I called it. Some friends of mine back home would say it was flirting, but I never saw how that could be. It was just me being a smartass most times. I never could get down the flirting thing anyway, so I just gave up on that back in high school.

"Hey, can I ask a question?" I asked to start up conversation as we both started walking along the Presidium. Also, I figured now would be a good time see what exactly she meant when I was told I would be grounded for three missions. Did she mean three _main_ missions, or just three missions that could be side missions as well? I wasn't sure.

She glanced over at me and shrugged. "Sure. Go ahead, Ironwill."

"So, remember when you said I was grounded for three missions?" She nodded slowly, waiting for me to go on. "I just want to clarify what you meant by that."

"What is there to clarify? It was pretty straightforward."

"I know, but I'm just not sure if you meant any missions because you have taken a few odd jobs during our hunt for Saren. Were you including things like that as well?"

"You know what, that's a good question. I didn't put too much thought into the punishment at the time." She bit her lip, concentrating. "How about this: all the little thing I may end up doing on the Citadel count as one mission that day. Anything that requires us to go to another world counts as one mission as well. Fair?"

I nodded. "Fair." That was good actually. If Shepard stayed on the Citadel a day or two more, I would have one mission crossed off my sentence for sure. As long as she would do what a person playing _Mass Effect_ would do. I mean, I sure as hell wanted to try and get everything done before the end of the game.

After that, we kind of lapsed into a silent walk. It wasn't awkward or anything, though. The walk was… enjoyable. Back home when I would walk around town with friends, we would constantly be talking. Walking around in silence would have been uncomfortable, but not now. Not while next to Shepard. I felt so at ease around her. It was nice just walking, enjoying the sights of the ever-so-clean Presidium.

A few minutes passed by before I decided to pick up conversation again. "So, any plans later?"

"Actually, I do," the Commander replied.

"Oh, really? What do you have planned, if you don't mind me asking?"

She smiled. "I want to try and get the crew together at Flux. We all need something to help relax after the last two missions. And it seemed like a good way to improve the chemistry of the crew."

"Flux is the night club on the Wards, right?" Obviously, I knew what Flux was, but I had not been there while in this universe. It seemed like I would be getting the chance tonight. Maybe Wrex would start a bar fight! I would love to see that old bastard beating the crap out of some poor fucks.

"Right you are." She then looked away a moment, biting her lip. _Again with the lip biting._ "You'll be there, right?"

Huh, odd question. Not like I had anything else to do today. "Definitely!" At that, Shepard appeared to perk up a bit more. Strange. "Although, I won't be drinking."

That made her tilt her head. "Why not?"

I shrugged. "I don't drink. Never saw the need to. I don't need alcohol to have a good time."

"Well, your liver must be very grateful for your decision," she replied with a smirk.

"You have no idea." I leaned closer to her to whisper. "I think he loves me. He keeps sending me notes with hearts and all. It's really creepy."

She laughed then began to pretend she was writing something. "Dear Ironwill, because of you I am the healthiest liver ever. I have no idea how I could ever repay you. With love, your liver. XO. XO." She finished it off with laughing some more. I joined along with her.

"God, we are a bunch of strange people, huh?"

"You're the strangest, though, Ironwill."

I grinned and puffed out my chest. "Why, thank you! I take pride in being strange."

Shepard rolled her eyes, a smile on her face. "You're an idiot."

"I know."

…

 _ **A/N: Well, other pretty laid back chapter. Next chapter I plan to have the crew together at Flux, some stuff afterwards on the**_ **Normandy** ** _, and some other stuff. The chapter after that will have the team heading back out… hopefully._**

 _ **So, this chapter doesn't have a credit song. I couldn't find one that fit.**_

 _ **As always, if you enjoyed leave a review, a follow, or a favorite. Those really do give me motivation to write more. Especially reviews. I love seeing what you guys have to say about what I'm writing.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off!**_


	15. Chapter 15 Flux

_**A/N: Well, sorry I took like, what, nearly a month to update? College was kicking my ass and I wanted to get the chapter that will come after this one finished before posting. So here ya are!**_

 _ **Also, we finally broke over 140 follows and 80 reviews! Woo! It's insane that I got to that amount anyway. I've seen stories on here that have less follows, faves, and reviews that have been on the site longer with more words and better writing. I honestly don't know why so many of you guys have taken an interest in this story… or maybe I'm a better writer than I let myself believe. Whatever the case, I want to say thank you.**_

 _ **Now, on to the show!**_

…

Shepard eventually got a message from Captain Anderson. He wanted to discuss something with her; she didn't know what. Before going, she made sure I was okay with her leaving for a bit. Of course I said it was fine, but that did kind of bum me out that she had to go. Now I was all alone for the time being with nothing to do. I didn't know where the other crew members were, and I didn't want to bother them if they were busy.

I found ways to keep busy.

I toured the Presidium at first. When leaving the hospital, I wasn't able to sight-see that much. Shepard was going to be arriving at the Citadel at the time, and I needed an omni-tool. Plus, there was the whole ordeal of actually joining up with the red haired (dyed red, to be clear) Alliance Commander. There just wasn't time to get a real good look at what the Presidium had to offer. I knew some of the stuff that was here, like Av's shop or that pizza place Garrus and I went to.

As I walked along, the amount there actually was on the Presidium was astonishing. It was mostly high-class as well. Not that I was surprised. This area held the embassies and the route to the Council Tower. Of course it was going to have nicer shops housing than what were on the Wards. That didn't mean I was saying the Wards were like a slum. No, far from it. In fact, the Wards had some high-class places of its own. It's just the Presidium had more in one area.

Eventually, it came time to head back and pick up my armor from Av. I got there about forty-five minutes later than what the turian armorer said he would have it all done by. It wasn't too much of a worry, though. Apparently, Av did have other people that worked for him, because I found an asari behind the counter this time. Av must have gone out for lunch and had her watch the store for him.

"Hello," I greeted kindly with a faint smile.

"Hi!" She returned warmly and energetically. The asari looked fairly young for her species, maybe around Liara's age. She wore a casual purple dress that contrasted her blue skin. A series of light blue dots went up the bridge of her nose and along her brow, forming eyebrows of sorts. "How can I help you?"

I approached the counter and drummed my fingers on its surface. "I've come to pick up my armor, if it's ready. Avitus said it would be an hour for it to be done. That was nearly two hours ago."

The asari typed away at the terminal a moment, eyes scanning the contents of the screen. She even moved her finger along the list to be able to pick out that words she was looking for. She turned back to me when she found it. "Daniel, right?"

"Yup, that's me."

"Good! Avie got these done a while ago. He was hoping you would be back before lunch. Something about 'seeing the look on your face when you saw them' or some such."

Hold up one moment… what did she just call him? "'Avie'?" I couldn't help an amused chuckle from escaping my lips.

"Avitus hasn't told you about me?" She wondered.

I shook my head. "Not a word."

"Hmm, that's odd considering he has mentioned you a fair bit." She extended her hand over the counter, smiling. "My name is Lyla. I'm Avie's girlfriend."

 _Well, I'll be damned. Our little 'Avie' has a girlfriend. And here I thought his only love were weapons and armor._

"Daniel Ironwill," I said as I shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you. Why haven't I seen you in here before? I've been by quite a few times now."

"I'm usually working. Today's my day off. Avitus asked me to watch the store while he went to get lunch. He should be back any mo—."

Almost on cue, Av walked through the door with a bag in hand. "Honey, I'm—." He stopped when he saw me there. "Well, this isn't exactly expected."

With a single wave, I said, "Hey, Av. Nice girl you got here."

Lyla put her hands on her hips. "Avie, why didn't you tell your friends about me? You're not ashamed of me, are you?"

Av quickly shook his head and made his way over to his girlfriend. "No, no, no. Never, Ly. It's just that it never came up in conversation." He clapped his talons together then, looking between us with a grin. "But, it is good you two finally met! My favorite customer and my favorite girl in one place."

"That sounds like a pitch for a terrible sit-com," I deadpanned.

Av chuckled. "You never know. But, I suppose you came by for your armor." I nodded. "Give me one second. Just gotta grab it from the back." He set the bag he was holding, probably with the lunch he got going by the wonderful smell emanating from it, on the counter and spun around and disappeared in the back of the store. With his typical speed, he came back with my armor case and set it down next to the bag. "Here ya go, buddy. One of five sets of freshly repaired armor. Enjoy."

I pulled the case closer and popped the hinges up. The whistle I let out was enough to show Av what I thought of his work. My armor was all shiny and new now with absolutely zero sign that it was ever damaged. Hell, there was zero sign it had been in combat. That jagged hole was now gone. I sure as hell didn't want that reminder of what happened last mission. My wound ached just thinking about it.

"Satisfied?" Av asked, an expecting look on his face.

I grinned. "Beyond satisfied." Then I glanced over to his girlfriend a moment, a smirk forming on my face. "Which is probably something you have never heard her say to you."

"Piss off!" He said with a wave of his talon. He wasn't serious though with that smile on his face (I think it was a smile.) and his girlfriend giggling behind him. "At least I get some."

"And how do you know I don't?"

He scoffed. "Puh-lease. If you were, you wouldn't be as clueless as you are."

Clueless? About what? "What do you mean by that?"

"You have to figure that out yourself, buddy." He laughed, grabbing the bag of food and wrapping an arm around Lyla. "Now, if you would excuse us. We are going to eat. Could you turn the sign in the window to closed."

"Sure," I said slowly, pulling my case off the counter.

I left the shop wondering what the hell he meant by me being clueless. What was I clueless about? I was typically fairly observant on thing. It was something that came with me being quiet and shy during high school. That offered a lot of chances to simple observe and read people.

With a frustrated sigh, I gave up on trying to figure it out. He was probably just fucking with me anyway. It doesn't matter. What did matter was the smell of Av's lunch made me very hungry. Time to find a place to eat!

…

The rest of my day went by pretty quickly. After eating at some sort of Chinese place for lunch, I headed back to the _Normandy_ for a bit. I made sure to message the others about their armor, as well. Other than that, nothing of note happened for the several hours I had to kill before heading to Flux, which Shepard did send a message to all crew about that.

I put my armor away then hit the simulator for a while. The Torfan sim was the poison I picked, exactly as Shepard set it up when we both tried it together. Honestly, it was tough as hell. I instantly regretted having the double enemies on. I should have just kept it at the normal setting. By the end of it, I would have been shot enough times to take down a small army. I did reach a score of about sixteen hundred. I could have gotten a higher score, but my healing wound (which was aching pretty good afterwards) prevented me from being very mobile in the sim. The high score for the thing was over six thousand. And of course it was held by Shepard.

 _Like I said before, damn N7s and trying to show off. But I wouldn't mind seeing Shepard showing off a bit more— No, stop right there, Ironwill. No thoughts like that about your Commander, no matter how attractive she is._

Before I knew it, the time was thirty pass seven at night. Most of the ship was empty since most of the crew had already left for Flux. I figured I might as well head out then as well.

I threw on my jacket, tossed up the hood, and began the journey to the club!

…

The aircar ride to Flux was only fifteen minutes. I was expecting it to be a shorter trip, given that the things aren't held back by roads. But who knew that the law dictated certain lanes for traffic, just like roads? Definitely not me. Maybe I should spend some time looking up Citadel laws. Or just laws around the galaxy, in general. Some things must be different from 2016.

Walking to the club entrance, I heard the music from inside faintly droning in a rhythmic way. It sounded like much better music than what would be played in Afterlife, that was sure. And as a bonus, this club didn't have a monarch of an asari controlling it. Boy, meeting Aria was going to be a treat. How long would it take for her to get annoyed by me? Probably not very, going by my current track record… That is, of course, if I live that long. Eh, I would cross that bridge when I got to it.

Before entering Flux, I spotted the first crew member since I left the ship. It was Kaidan. He was dressed much more casually than I probably have ever seen him. It was a simply t-shirt with an Alliance logo and pants to match. Good to see that the boy scout knew how to relax. And it seemed like a good opportunity to get to know him more. I had not been able to really talk to him as much of the other crew members. It kind of made me feel bad.

"Kaidan!" I shouted, waving at him.

He searched a moment to see who had called him, but finally smiled when he spotted me. "Daniel! Glad to see you're here. That injury sure isn't keeping you down."

I chuckled. "With a mission like this, who can afford to sit by and watch."

"True enough." He glanced into the club, then looked back to me and bobbed his head towards the door. "Walk and talk?"

Nodding, I let Kaidan go first. The music instantly increased in volume the moment we stepped inside. Unlike Afterlife, there were no asari dancers or shady business going down. Quasar machines were in the back with several people trying their luck. A dance floor was off to the side, filled with club-goers already enjoying themselves. Tables were decently filled for it being almost eight at night. Flux certainly had a much more lively and friendly environment compared to Afterlife and its game counterpart. And I spotted quite a few of the crew from the ship in there.

"How do you feel about this little thing Shepard has organized?" I asked, having to speak up due to the music.

"I think it was a good idea," he replied. "We all haven't had a proper night to just relax. We've been on the go, pretty much, since our mission started. It's nice to get some 'R and R' once in a while."

"No arguments here." At last, I spotted a table with most of the ground crew at it. Tali was there. Garrus and Ash. Liara, too. And of course, Shepard herself. Huh, where was Wrex though?

There was a loud belch from the bar. And Wrex was its source as he began downing probably another bottle of alcohol before slamming it down with a laugh. Why was I not surprised?

"Well, there's Wrex," I pointed out, then actually pointed to where I saw the others. "And over there is the rest of the crew. Let's go." I pulled a chair over and sat down next to Garrus. "Evening, ladies."

"Hey, what about me?" Garrus questioned.

"I said ladies as a whole." The others laughed.

He rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Mr. Ironwill."

"Whatever you say, Detective."

Liara, who was sitting in her chair with perfect posture and her hands in her lap, leaned forward slightly then. "It appears our drinks are here." Craning my neck to look pass Kaidan, who pulled up a chair next to me, there was indeed a waitress carrying a tray of five drinks.

She stopped at our table and began handing out the alcoholic beverages. Liara had ordered some kind of asari wine or whatnot. It was blue and apparently tasted sweet… that could probably be used to describe Liara herself in _several different_ ways. Ash got a beer. Not surprising with her rough-and-tough attitude. Tali and Garrus both were given some kind of turian brandy. Last, Shepard ordered some kind of drink with vodka mixed in. I didn't drink, so I wasn't that adept with alcohol knowledge.

"Would either of you want something?" The waitress asked, pulling out a little notebook. _Huh, that hasn't changed._

Kaidan nodded. "Yeah, I'll have what the Chief got: a beer."

She jotted that down quickly before looking to me. "And you, sir?"

Oh, hell. I hated being expected to know what I wanted. Well, I definitely wasn't getting anything that would get me buzzed. "Uh, do you have any non-alcoholic drinks?"

"We do. There are carbonated beverages, such as Coca-Cola and Blasto-Fizz. And of course, there is water as an option." _Blasto-Fizz? Of course the future would have a soda with such a corny name like that._

"Just bring me a Coke, please."

With a smile, the waitress said, "I'll be right back with your drinks."

When I turned my attention back to the table, I found everyone there was staring at me. "What? I don't drink."

Boy Scout next to me elbowed me in the arm lightly, a smirk on his face. "There's no shame in being a lightweight, kid."

"For your information, I have never had a sip of alcohol in my life, "I protest. Then it hit me what he just called me. "Did you call me 'kid'?" He nodded, a grin on his face. "I'm twenty-one! That is far from being a kid."

"Yeah, but you're younger than me. That makes you a kid," he replied sarcastically.

"That's the same thing the Chief said," I grumbled with a sigh, sliding down into my chair.

Kaidan's face then turns to an apologetic one. "Hey, if you don't like it, I won't call you that."

I righted myself in the chair and smirked at him. "Nah, it's fine… _old man_."

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be, huh?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Alright. I'll play your game, _kid_."

Garrus chuckled from next to me. "Watch out, _Mr. Ironwill_ , it looks like you have a war on two fronts going on."

"Bring it!" I exclaimed, tapping the table. "I welcome a good challenge, Detective."

After that, the waitress came with the drinks for me and Kaidan. It felt so good to have some Coca-Cola. Last time I had any was before I came to this universe, and that was about… two weeks ago now? Damn, time went by when your entire life gets turned upside down and you're thrown into a fight for galactic survival. Which made me think about how stark a contrast sitting in a club around recently made friends was compared to the threat of the Reapers.

 _Eh, I probably shouldn't think about that tonight. Tonight I should enjoy myself, not get depressed. God knows I've had enough depression for one lifetime._

…

An hour had passed already by the time I checked the time on my omni-tool. So far, the night had been a blast! We've all been joking around and just enjoying the night off. Last time an event this enjoyable happened, it was when a few friends and me went bowling during the start of my senior year of high school. That was basically the same thing as tonight. Just a bunch of friends enjoying each others company.

That made me think of my friends back home though. Did they know I was gone? Was I being missed? Were they even alive still? Universes could travel along the same timeline meaning that it could be 2183 back home. That meant my friends were all dead. And so would me family… God, if I ever could get back home, would there be anything left?

Something slamming down on the table next to me scared the absolute shit out of me! I actually jumped in my seat. Looking over, Wrex had finally pulled himself away from the bar and graced us with his presence.

"Daniel!" He shouted jovially, a massive drunken grin on his face. "How the hell are ya!"

I took a deep breath. "I could be better if you didn't just give me a fuckin' heart attack!"

He slapped me on the back and laughed. "Well, you're still kickin', so no harm done!" He looked down at my soda. "What the hell is that?"

"Uh, soda. I don't drink."

Wrex gave me a flat look. "What, were you raised by some damn priests or something?"

"I don't need to get drunk to have a good time, Wrex."

"You're a lightweight, then." He laughed, slapping me on the back again. Suddenly, he knelt down to be level with the rest of us at the table. He was still taller than me though. "Anyway, I've been thinking…"

"That's a first," Garrus muttered next to him with a smirk.

"Can it, turian, I'm speaking here. We're going to be killing a lot of stuff out there."

"And…" I made a 'get-on-with-it' motion.

"And I figured we made it a little more interesting! A bet on who can get the most kills by the end of it all. What do ya say?"

A kill competition? I looked down at the table in thought. A kill competition did seem fun. And it would give bragging rights over him. Yes, a bet on who can get the most kills seemed like a good idea. "Okay, Wrex, you're on!"

"Count me in, too," Garrus said, setting his now empty glass on the table. "To knock Wrex off his pedestal will be an easy task."

Wrex laughed, slapping both Garrus and I on the back. "Now we're talking. Turian, can the little visor of yours track kills?"

"Yes, it can."

"Good. We'll use that to keep score."

"Wait, wait, wait," I said, a thought coming to me. "What will count as kills though? And are kills from the Mako's gun not counted?"

Garrus nodded thoughtfully. "You got a point. I say everything except vehicles, automated turrets, and kills from the Mako count. Sound good?" Wrex nodded and so did I. "Now, what are the stakes exactly?"

A devious smirk crossed Wrex's face. "Losers," he looked between Garrus and I, "have to wear dresses and dance in the middle of the Presidium." Huh, sounded very… juvenile, but Wrex was drunk off his ass currently and dancing in dresses would draw attention to members of the _Normandy_ crew. It would be embarrassing as hell.

Garrus and I shared a look before nodding. "Deal!"

From across the table, Shepard rolled her eyes. She had drank the most so far at the table, minus Wrex, as well. Not by much though. Ash had two beers so far. Shepard had three of… whatever her drink was.

I smirked. "Come on, Shepard. I know you want in on this, too. I bet you'll look real nice in a dress."

"Have you been imagining the Commander in a dress, kid?" Ash teased.

"I, uh…" Shit, I couldn't think of anything to say. I mean, Shepard would probably look great in a dress, but… _Where the fuck_ _am_ _I going with this train of though_ _t_ _?_

My saving grace came by way of a song coming on. Ash's face seemed to light up as it began playing. She stood, eyes set towards the dance floor.

"I love this song! Hey, Commander, come with me," she said.

Shepard bit her lip, not in the way she has before though. This was in a more thoughtful manner. She then shrugged. "Why not? Tonight is about having fun. Anyone else want to join us?"

Liara shook her head as she stood. "I actually must use the restroom. Excuse me." And then she was off. Not sure if she really needed to go or if it was just an excuse.

Now Tali… Tali looked like she was legitimately considering it. "I don't know."

"Come on, girl. It'll be fun!" Ash nudged her with her hip, which surprised me. Any contact with an alien would be avoided from her. She must definitely be warming up to the aliens on the ship at least, which was good.

Hesitantly, the shy quarian nodded. "Okay."

I watched them all go off towards the filling up dance floor. Apparently, the song playing was quite popular. My eyes drifted more towards Shepard, though. As she pushed back that single strand of loose hair behind her ear, there was a… the best way to describe it would be a weightless feeling in my chest. Shepard was certainly extraordinary…

"Taken a liking to the Commander?" An amused flanging voice said from next to me.

I shook my head and blinked, turning towards Garrus. "What?"

"Shepard. You have feelings for her, don't you?" He smirked.

I laughed, although there wasn't much conviction behind it. "Me, liking Shepard? Don't be ridiculous, Garrus. I… I mean, why would I? She's my commanding officer and friend. Just a friend!" He chuckled. "What? Why are you chuckling?"

"I'll let you figure that out yourself, Mr. Ironwill."

What? That was the second time someone had said that to me! Figure out what? That I was a dumbass? I didn't need to figure that out; I already knew that. But that definitely wasn't it.

What the hell did I need to figure out?

…

The next hour I was constantly bugged about what both Garrus _and_ Avitus had told me. I tried to work it out in my mind, but it got me nowhere. Why did it have to be so frustrating?! It couldn't be that difficult if both of them could see it. Was I truly just that stupid and blind… That was a rhetorical question. Don't answer that.

Another this was bothering me the past hour. Shepard. She was drinking. _A lot_. It was beginning to get concerning. Actually, no. It got concerning when she ordered her tenth drink in a row. She was now up to fifteen downed drinks and had just ordered another one. No one else at the table was even close to her number of drinks. I wasn't the only one who was starting to notice as well. The others at the table were giving her looks of concern.

"Commander, do you think you might have had enough for the night?" Liara asked, her tone cautious.

Shepard giggled. _Giggled_ , like a teenage girl. "Noooo, I don't. I don't think I've had enough!" Her damned words were starting to slur as well. Fuck. This wasn't good.

"Liara's right, Shepard," Kaidan stated. "You've had enough to drink."

"Oh, relax, _KAI_ -dan!" She started leaning in her chair a bit. "Everything's fi— oh!" I closed my eyes as Shepard fell out of her chair. "Oopsies."

Okay, that was enough. With a sigh, I stood and made my way to the other side of the table. Helping Shepard to her feet, I turned to the others. "I'm going to take her back to the ship."

That got nods of agreement all around. Hell, even Wrex agreed it was a good idea. Wrex, who was drunk as well. But Shepard? Something wasn't right. She didn't come off as someone to drink like this.

"Come on, Shepard. We're going," I said almost like I was talking to a child. In turn, she groaned like a child.

"But I haven't gotten my drink yet!" She protested.

"They're all out. Gotta go now." I began leading her out of the club, trying to block her from the more nosy people. There had to be someone who would recognize her. Shepard didn't need reporters having a field day with this. And if they did find out, I could see the headlines already. 'Commander Shepard: Alcoholic' or 'Spectres' First Drunk' they would read.

Outside of the club, Shepard leaned into me and let out a high-pitched hiccuped. I had to admit, it sounded adorable.

"You're such a cutie," she slurred, a grin on her face.

I glanced down at her. "Uh-huh." She was really fucking drunk to say I'm a 'cutie'.

She slapped me in the chest, nearly missing. "You are!"

That exclaim from her drew the attention of a nearby human couple. I gave a feeble chuckle and nodded towards Shepard while blocking her from view.

"Can't hold her liquor," I said.

The couple seemed to leave it at that and entered Flux. I led Shepard to a Rapid Transport Station and hailed a cab. As we waited, she nearly toppled over. Luckily I was quick enough to catch her.

"Woo, the floor is all wobbly," she giggled, words slurring slightly.

"I bet it is," I said as a VI controlled cab landed near us. We made our way over.

"Why are you takin' me back to the ship?" Shepard asked in a whiny way. "I was just having fun!"

I gave her a blank look. "You have had way to much to drink tonight. It's time to go." I made sure she was all situated in the passenger side seat before climbing into the driver's side and punching in the location of the _Normandy_ 's dock. The cab lifted into the air and sped off into the Citadel night.

As Shepard entertained herself by switching through the radio station, I tried to think about what could have drove her to drink so much. Was it the stress of being expected to stop Saren? Or the stress of the expectation of her in general from being the first human Spectre? Or was it something else entirely? I doubted I could ask her and get a solid answer in her drunken state.

"Daniel?"

The use of my first name from Shepard was enough to violently slam the brakes on my train of thought. She had yet to call me by my first name, even while not on missions. What could have brought that on?

I turned to look at her but was immediately surprised when her lips pressed against mine. Her lips were surprisingly soft and warm. Almost on instinct, I leaned into the kiss, eyes closing and my hand moving on its own to caress her cheek. But as quickly as I was pulled into it, I pulled back, shaking my head.

"No," my voice was barely a whisper. It didn't feel right. Not with her like this. Louder now, "You're drunk, Shepard."

Her entire demeanor seemed to deflate as she sunk into her seat. "You don't like me, do you?"

"What? No! No, that's not it. You're an amazing person, Shepard, but you're drunk. That just now wasn't you."

"But I like you…"

Okay, now I was one hundred percent sure she was utterly hammered. I mean, who the hell would like me like that? No one. I was _far_ from the most attractive person in the universe. Hell, in _any_ universe.

"When we get back to the ship, I'm going to help you to bed—."

Shepard perked up as she interrupted me, her tone seductive. "Will you be joining me?"

"No."

She deflated back into her seat for the rest of the ride.

 _This is one of the reasons why I don't drink._

…

By the time we got back to the ship, it was nearly eleven at night. A decent amount of the crew had already turned into the ship for the night. When I brought Shepard to the crew deck, Joker was just on his way to the elevator. He was taken by surprise by the sight of a very drunken Spectre.

"Holy hell, what happened to her?" He asked bluntly.

I rolled my eyes. "She's drunk, Joker. Extremely so. I helped her back to the ship."

"How many drinks did she have?"

"Fifteen. She just ordered her sixteenth when I decided it was time for her to go."

Joker whistled at that. "Damn."

"Yeah. Now, if you'd excuse me, I have a Commander to put to bed." _Geez, never thought I would ever say those words._

"Good luck," Joker offered before calling the elevator and hobbling inside.

I led Shepard into her cabin and to the bed. Thankfully, she was in a fairly comfortable outfit, so no need to help her change or anything. I did slide her shoes off for her after she tried, and failed, herself. God, it was so strange seeing this badass N7, the first human Spectre, being hammered off her rocker.

"Goodnight, Shepard," I said at the door.

She snuggled up to her pillow. "'Night…"

I left the room and closed the door. Sitting down at a chair in the mess hall, the exhaustion of the night finally hit me. I didn't even notice me eye close. Falling asleep moments later came pretty easily.

…

When I began to become conscious again and my eyes slowly opened, I found I was still in the same chair as before. Only difference was that the chair was the only thing in around as it stood on a glass floor. All around me was nothing but a bluish glowing world. Internally, I groaned. Externally, I wanted to shoot something.

 _The Dream State. So that meant…_

"Rumple," I growled. Standing from the chair, I looked around in an agitated manner.

"Someone called?"

I whirled around to face the bastard. Rumple was standing a few meters behind the chair. How he got there was better left unexplained. Less of a headache that way. "What do you want? Is this some kind of check-in? Or do you just want to annoy me? Because I have better things to do than talk to a psychopath."

He giggled. I hated that fucking giggle with a passion now. If he didn't have those damned god-like powers, I would kill him simply due to that giggle. "I was going to check-in tomorrow, dearie, but certain events happened that I just couldn't wait to discuss! Commander Shepard kissed you while drunk. Even I couldn't have planned that. How was it like? Did you enjoy it? Tell me all the details!"

I just stood their staring at him with an incredulous look on my face. If I didn't think he was crazy before, I definitely did now. What the fuck was his deal? He was acting like some bored housewife who just got wind of some gossip.

"Fuck off," was all I said, plopping back down in the chair and trying to will myself out of the Dream State. It wasn't working.

"Oh, come on! Not knowing is going to kill me!" He said as he shuffled around the chair to be in front of me now.

"Then I definitely won't tell you anything now," I replied flatly. "Now send me back. Any more time around you and I may end up snapping someone's neck to release my frustrations."

Rumple put on an insanely fake pouting face and lowered his head. "Have it your way, then…"

Before I could realize it, Rumple was kicking me out of the Dream State. My head felt light and my vision began to blur. Next thing I knew, everything went black.

…

For a second time, I opened my eyes. I hissed in discomfort as I raised an arm to block the light from the mess hall. It's not that it was particularly bright. No, it was just that the damn thing was right over me. Rubbing my eyes and stretching my aching back as much as my wound from Feros allowed, I pulled up my omni-tool to check the time.

 _Two in the morning! It was around eleven when I dozed off. No one thought it might have been a good idea to, I don't know, wake me up. If I sleep like this anymore, I'm going to have a back of an eighty year old before I'm twenty-five._

A door swishing open caught my attention. Shepard was coming out of her cabin, and boy did she look like hell. She looked like the walking dead, in fact. Her hair was all messed up and out of its usual ponytail. She barely kept her eyes opened; I swore she was going to fall asleep then and there while shuffling to the kitchen area. Grabbing a glass, she poured herself some water. Shepard gingerly began sipping at it.

I made my way over to her slowly but not quietly. Shepard heard me moving and turned to look. All she offered was a weak nod.

"You doing okay?" I asked gently and smiling faintly.

She stared at the half empty glass in her hands. "No, not really. I feel like I'm going to vomit, my head is pounding, and if I continue standing any longer I'm going to fall over. So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed."

Setting the glass in the sink, Shepard went to move pass me. I took one step to the side and blocked her path. She tried to give me an annoyed look, but it was more tired looking than anything.

"Shepard, you drank a lot earlier," I stated.

"How much?" She asked quietly, not meeting my gaze.

"Fifteen drinks." I tried to look at her face, but she kept her head turned almost in embarrassment. "Is there anything going on, Shepard? You don't seem like the type to drink that much. People only drink that much when they're trying to forget something… Are you trying to forget something?"

I just managed to make out her biting her lip. "Did I do anything I might regret?" Avoiding my questions entirely in a very obvious way. Should I tell her about the kiss?

"No," I chuckled lightly, choosing to omit any info about the kiss. She was drunk. It happens… I think. "Just the typical drunken randomness. Nothing anyone will remember by tomorrow any how."

She nodded slowly and made to move again. I gently placed my hand on her shoulder to stop her again.

"You still didn't answer my question," I said. "Is there anything you need to talk about? You had me a bit worried earlier."

That got her to at least look at me a bit more. "You were worried about me?"

"Of course I was. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah. Friends." Shepard's gaze fell to the floor a moment. "I should really get to bed before this hangover really kicks in."

I sighed, accepting the fact she wasn't going to tell me anything about why she got so hammered. So, I gave her shoulder a light squeeze. "If you ever need to talk about anything, you can always come to me, Shepard. I'm more than willing to listen."

There's that lip biting again. "Thank you, Ironwill. Goodnight." She made her way into her cabin.

"Goodnight," I said before the cabin door closed, leaving me alone in the mess hall.

 _God, today was tiring. Time to get some legitimate sleep._

…

 _ **A/N: So yeah… Shepard drunk kissed Daniel. I've been thinking of having something like that happen for a few chapters now. But Shepard drinking so much will be explained deeper soon. Hope it was interesting.**_

 _ **Next chapter is going to be set up a bit differently. I bet you all are craving action by now after these last few relaxed chapters.**_

 _ **Credit song is**_ Far East Movement: Like a G6. **_I felt it fit the Flux scenes. That's the song that comes to mind when I think of club music._**

 _ **Hope ya'll enjoyed.**_

 _ **lPriime, signing off.**_


	16. Chapter 16 Punishment

_**A/N: Guess who's back, bitches?! No, not Slim Shady. It's me. And with a long ass chapter too.**_

 _ **I apologize for the long ass delay. I was hit with a massive streak of writer's block and then life got hectic and I ended up not being interested with writing for a while. But that didn't mean I didn't stop thinking of this story and the Watchers series as a whole. I spent a lot of time thinking about future scenes for this story and its sequel. And maybe even a little spin-off non-canon story at the end. When I got an idea, I opened up google docs on my phone and typed it out. I even started on a simple outline for the sequel to Watchers.**_

 _ **But enough of me going on about thing.**_

 _ **Sit back, relax, and enjoy!**_

…

When I went to sleep properly after Shepard went back into her cabin, a few things prevented me from getting a decent sleep at all. The first reason was that I kept waking up for less than a minute several times. Not a surprise, actually. My sleeping pattern has been like that for years. I even had a sleep study done years ago, but that was a waste of time because I only got three hours sleep. Ironic, really. Not sleeping during a sleep study.

The second reason I didn't sleep well was this dream I had. I had it once before after I passed out in the street when I got to this universe. And just like the first time I was in a complete black void as voices echoed around me. The female voice that cried out for someone to do something sounded like… Shepard? The voice sounded almost like her. But who couldn't die then? Why did she sound so upset if it was her in the dream? And then that massive structure I see in the dream after that. What could that be?

Maybe I was just looking too into the dream. That's what it was; a dream. But I had never had any dream like that, and I never had the same dream twice. Was it significant somehow? Or maybe crossing into another universe made my dreaming different? It annoyed the hell out of me. My whole time in this universe had been a series of questions and _very few_ answers.

But since those were the reasons I didn't sleep well, I woke up before anyone else on the ship. I wasn't much for coffee, but I brewed up a pot. I needed something to help me stay awake. And if Shepard was going to do some running around today, some caffeine would help me stay up.

 _Eh, fuck. It's been a while since I made coffee._

I _totally_ did not look up how to work a coffee maker on my omni-tool. Nope, not at all. That would be ridiculous, right?

"Hey, kid."

"I know how to work it!" I shouted in surprise as Kaidan snuck up behind me. He raised an eyebrow in confusion as I turned around.

"Well, that was certainly not what I expected my day to start out," he deadpanned.

I groaned as I wiped my hand down my face. "You scared the shit out of me, old man. I'm trying to make coffee here!"

"Yes, I can see that."

I rolled my eyes then pressed the button to activate the coffee maker. "Well, if you wanted to get some, all you need to do is wait a few minutes until the pot is brewed." Using my biotics, I opened a cabinet and pulled out two mugs for Kaidan and I and set them on the counter.

"You never seem to get tired from your biotic use," Kaidan said.

My head tilted to the side. "Oh?"

"Biotics take up a lot of energy, kid, and you use yours a lot more than what's recommended. It's why we are given special rations with doubled calories; to keep our energy up. Then here you are, charging all over the place and Warping and Shockwaving, not seeming to get tired in the slightest. So, what's your secret then?"

"Crack," I said without hesitation. The way Kaidan's eyes widened was priceless. Laughing, I slapped him on the shoulder. "Nah, I'm just fucking with ya. Honestly, I have no idea why I don't tire. Might be due to the two amps…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did you just say _two amps_?" I nodded. "How is that possible? Something like that would have fried your brain."

The coffee maker beeped, signaling the coffee was now ready. I shrugged as I began filling our mugs. "I don't know how that's possible, or even how they got there. Chakwas, Shepard and I all suspect it as a bit of memory loss; a few weeks that I might not remember. Problem is, I wouldn't be able to remember if there wasn't anything to remember… if that makes sense." I offered Kaidan one of the mugs.

Taking the mug, Kaidan nodded as he went to get whatever he typically puts in his coffee. Me? I put lots of cream and sugar because I liked my coffee to be a bit sweet. "Yeah, I suppose that makes sense to not remember what you can't remember."

I nodded, leaning against the counter as I let my coffee cool a bit. "So, while on the topic of biotics, let me ask you a question now: how were you trained with yours?" _Time to prod some of the Brain Camp info._

"Oh," he rubbed the back of his neck. "My training wasn't the best experience anyone should go through."

"Not something you wanna talk about?"

He shook his head. "That isn't it, kid. BAaT is just something not many people usually find pleasant to hear about. Not a lot of good things happened there."

 _Yeah, the kids were pretty much pushed to their limits there, but let's find that out from him._ "BAaT? I think I've heard of that."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't. Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training; that name didn't last long pass the airlock. For most kids hauled in, it was know as Brain Camp." Kaidan chuckled almost bitterly. "Sorry, 'hauled in' isn't exactly kind. We were 'encouraged to commit to an evaluation of our abilities so a better understanding of biotics could be compiled'. Beats some other results of accidental exposure in the womb to element zero. Some poor kids grew up with brain tumors."

"Accidental exposure?" I questioned then took a sip of my coffee. Damn, it had to cool a bit more. I didn't like my coffee being really hot.

"Yeah. Human biotics didn't really appear until after the discovery of the Mars Ruins. In my case, my mother was down wind of a transport crash. But some cases were iffy to tell if they were accidental exposures or not." Kaidan paused to clear his throat and took a sip of his coffee. He seemed to be satisfied with how it turned out.

"As I was saying," he went on, "around sixty-three was when it got iffy. Conatix was running out of first-gen subjects. Until then, they were relying on accidentals. One day a bunch of guys in suits show up at your door after school and next thing you know your off to Jump Zero."

I always thought that was fucked up when I would hear this conversation in-game, but to think that it actually happened in this universe makes me pissed. A company doing something to innocent people for profit; I hated shit like that.

I took another sip of my coffee. Now it was the right temperature for my taste! "So, was there any proof of intentional exposures? I mean, from what you're saying, this shit happened a lot."

Kaidan shook his head. "No one knows for certain, kid, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen. The exposures were big, so that made it hard to track down accidentals. It was different then. No one knew the potential, so there wasn't a lot regulation. Anything Conatix did… was gold. Now, I'm not saying they intentionally detonated drives over our outposts, but in retrospect, they were _damn_ quick on the scene."

Whatever I could have said never came to be as both Kaidan and I heard the sound of the Commander's cabin door opening. Out from around the wall came a very groggy and very hungover Commander Shepard. She was wearing the exact same clothes she had on from last night, hair all a mess too, except she had… bunny eared slippers? Now that I nearly laughed at.

"Uh, hi, Shepard," I said, trying to test the waters to see if she was in the mood for _any_ interaction right now.

She held up her hand as the other went to her head as she grimaced. "Not now, Ironwill. Is Chakwas up?" Before I could even tell her I didn't know, Shepard continued on her way to the med-bay. "Nevermind. I'll find out myself." At that she entered the med-bay.

"So, how was it getting her back on the ship last night?" Kaidan asked.

Shepard drunk-kissing me flashed in my head. Instead of mentioning that, I chuckled lightly. "Oh, as you would expect. She nearly fell over several times and generally acting like she was very drunk, which she was."

He nodded. "Not surprising. She had way too much vodka for her own good. It bugged me though. That just didn't seem like something she has a habit of doing, ya know?"

"I know." I looked over at the med-bay. "Perhaps it is simply the stress of everything going on. A lot of people are expecting her to get this done… and some are probably hoping she fails." Anyone would want just a few hours to forget everything, especially if you were expected to stop galactic extinction. In the games, Shepard was always shown off to be this almost super solider with no fears. Someone who would never crack under pressure. I felt bad for the Commander.

"You're not wrong."

The med-bay doors finally opened again and out stepped Shepard, looking a bit better. She said nothing as she went back into her cabin and locked the door behind her. Not long after that, those door swished open. Shepard walked around the corner, fully dressed in casual military attire, hair done up in that ponytail of hers, but eyes still looking tired.

I grabbed a mug for her. She took without a word. At least until she had taken a sip of the coffee.

"Alenko," she said. Kaidan stood up straighter at that. "I plan to do some running around the Citadel. I want you and Williams with me, armored up and armed."

"I'm guessing it's not to pick up groceries, ma'am," Kaidan replied with a slight smile.

Shepard chuckled lightly at that, the coffee seeming to help with her hangover. It seemed like a fast recovery. "Not at all. I've gotten a few emails asking for some help. Being the first human Spectre."

"I'll make sure to inform the Chief should I see her before you, Shepard."

"What should I do, Shepard, while you're out?" I asked. She gave me this look that just had Gibbs-slap written all over it. And that's what I got.

"You, Ironwill, will be starting on that thousand word apology letter to the Rear Admiral which you should have done by the end of the day," she said as I rubbed the spot behind my head that she slapped. "Should you finish that, you will start cleaning the wash rooms."

"Male and female wash rooms?"

"Yes."

I nodded. "Got it, Shepard."

"Good. I suggest you start on that letter. A thousand words is a lot for an apology, Ironwill." With a smirk, she turned and left to her cabin with her coffee. Yeah, she was definitely feeling better already.

I took a large gulp of my coffee before looking at Kaidan. "What the hell did the Doc give her to clear up a hangover so quickly?"

"Special Alliance injection. Marines tend to party hard on shore leave, kid. Someone in Alliance R&D saw fit to make something to cure hangovers within minutes. It worked. Ever since then, each Alliance ship has a stockpile of the stuff for when we go on shore leave," the Lieutenant explained.

"It must really work well. Shepard must of had the biggest hangover of the century with how much she drank last night. I'm surprised she didn't get alcohol poisoning." I finished up my coffee and washed out the mug before setting it in the sink.

It was early still, but I probably should start on that damn letter. Required writing was always awful to me, and having to write a long ass apology to a piece of shit Admiral who was upset a ship wasn't put under his command will make this only harder to do.

"I should get going, kid," Kaidan said as he finished his coffee. "Lots to do for the day."

"Yeah, but at least you get to leave the ship," I said. "My ass gets to write an apology then start cleaning bathrooms."

Kaidan chuckled and patted my shoulder as he walked by. "Good luck with that, Daniel."

 _I guess I should work on the letter. Fuck me…_

…

This is good. I was at good pace with this apology letter… at least that's what I wish I could say. But nope! I had been sitting at this table in the mess hall for an hour, and all I could get was 'Dear Admiral Asshole'…

Fuck.

At this rate, it would be a week to get a proper apology letter done. I had to get this done. If I could finish annoying ass papers done before their due dates in high school, I could get this done.

"How's the letter coming?" Shepard asked as she approached me. She was wearing her freshly repaired set of armor, courtesy of Avitus.

I gave her a blank look.

"That good, huh?"

"All I have so far is 'Dear Admiral Asshole'," I replied with a sigh. Shepard crossed her arms at that. "Don't worry; I'm going to change it. How the fuck am I going to write a thousand words when I can simply say 'I'm sorry for being an ass'?"

She shrugged, hints of a smile tugging at her lips. "That's for you to figure out, Ironwill."

"You're so mean to me, you know that?" I asked with a slight smirk.

"Me? Mean? Never!"

"Smartass," I muttered so she couldn't hear. She Gibbs-slapped me as she walked by.

"Heard that," she said as she headed for the stairs. She added, "Make sure you get that letter done. That's an order." She sounded so amused.

…

Commander Scarlet Shepard walked into the diplomat's lounge. She scanned the place for the asari Nassana Dantius. When she was contacted by the diplomat, she was hesitant to come. Dantius said she couldn't say much over an unsecured channel. Either she was in trouble and only a Spectre could help, or what she wanted to talk about was illegal. Whatever Dantius wanted to speak about, Shepard would deal with it; whether it be helping her or arresting her.

 _Never thought I would have authority to arrest anyone._

Shepard spotted Dantius from across the lounge. It wasn't difficult. Dantius was the only asari in the lounge at the time, which was odd with how many asari were on the Citadel. She gestured for Kaidan and Ash to follow as she began to head over.

"Commander Shepard," Dantius greeted when Shepard approached the table she was sat at. "I am Nassana Dantius. I see you got my message."

The first thing Shepard noticed was that Dantius seemed… cold. Perhaps it was just the formality in which Dantius spoke. Or it was how she seemed too calm.

"Mind if we sit?" Shepard asked, gesturing to the open seats.

"Not at all."

Shepard, Kadian and Ash sat down at the open seats. The Commander leaned forward.

"So, what do you need? Your message sounded like you needed some help," Shepard stated.

Dantius sighed. "I do. My sister Dahlia is a crewman on a cargo vessel operating beyond the fringes of the Traverse. Her ship was attacked by privateers. There were no reported survivors. This is where is gets complicated. Last week, I received a message with her voice on it. Dahlia is alive!" She realized she got a little too loud and took a breath to calm herself before continuing. "The rest of the crew was killed, but she was taken prisoner. The slavers demanded a huge ransom from me in exchange for returning her unharmed."

Shepard took a moment to go through the information she just got. Dantius' sister was taken hostage by slavers and were demanding a ransom for her safe return. The rest of the crew of the ship she was on was killed. Why was her sister spared?

"Why didn't the slavers kill Dahlia along with everyone else?" Shepard asked.

"My sister probably told them who she was," Dantius began to explain. "My family is very wealthy, Shepard. They must have realized she was worth more to them alive."

"Coming up with the ransom seems like the best way to ensure Dahlia's safety."

Dantius shook her head slightly. "That's what I thought. I did what they wanted, transferred the funds to the account they specified. Only, the never released her. They haven't contacted me since." She sighed. "I made a terrible mistake, Shepard. I'm a diplomatic emissary! By law, I am required to report any attempted extortion to C-Sec immediately. But I was afraid for Dahlia, so I just paid them what they wanted for her. Now she is still missing, and if anyone finds out what I did, I could go to jail!"

Shepard tried to look for any signs to see if the asari was lying. Besides her calmness at the start of the conversation, she seemed genuinely concerned for her sister's safety.

"Don't worry, I'll find your sister and bring her home," the Commander stated.

Dantius looked up at her. "You'd do that?" Shepard nodded. "Alright. I tracked the ransom payment through several accounts. Eventually, it led to a small mercenary band operating out of the Artemis Tau cluster. If you go there, take out the mercs, and bring my sister back, you'll be reward quite generously."

"Keep your money," Shepard told her. "I'll bring your sister back. I promise." She stood to leave, Kaidan and Ash following suit. Dantius stood as well.

"Thank you, Shepard. I knew you were the right woman for the job," the asari said. "I should be here, so come back and see me when the job is done."

With a quick nod of acknowledgment, Shepard lead her team away and our of the lounge. Ash was quick to bring up her doubts when they were out of range.

"You think that asari was telling the truth?" The marine asked. "She seemed kinda indifferent the entire time."

"I'm gonna have to agree with the Chief on this one, Commander," Kaidan added. "She did seem too calm about her sister being kidnapped."

The Commander would have been lying if she said she didn't doubt the asari intentions, but the possibility that she was being sincere was not a cause to simply ignore this.

"I agree that Dantius was calm about her situation, but I'm not going risk ignoring someone's plead for help just on the assumption that it might not be true," Shepard said firmly as they walked towards the Rapid Transit Station. "If it definitely is true, and we ignore it, an innocent person could be killed. Or worse."

The two marines had nothing to say to that. Shepard's reasoning was a good one. It was no wonder that she was the lady picked to be humanity's first Spectre; for situations just like this.

…

I sat at the damn table on the crew deck for what felt like hours after Shepard left. In reality, it was closer to like 30 minutes. My hands practically gripped the side of my head in annoyance as I stared at the damn words on the screen. I made much more progress than before, about 200 words so far, but how the fuck was I supposed to write a thousand words when 'I'm sorry for my behavior' would work just fine and dandy. Forced writing was always the bane of my existence. When it was just me writing for fun, I could probably write an entire book. But a 2 page essay that was required of me? My brain simply stopped when it came to that.

With a sigh, I slumped back into the chair. God, my life was such a mess. So much wasn't right. This whole being-thrown-into -the- _Mass-Effect-_ universe thing was still hard to believe. Some deep part of my mind wanted to believe that it was just some very lucid dream. That I was shot in that alley by some mugger and put into a coma, and not shot by a cross-universal being then dragged from my home universe.

Then there was all the things that have changed with me. The biotics. The anger. My sudden confidence in fights. That wasn't how I was before! Maybe I had the capacity to fight well, but I was like a super soldier or some shit in a video game…

Perhaps that's why I've been… reckless and insubordinate. Subconsciously, I probably still thought of all this as a game. I thought that I was invincible with the biotics and all. I wasn't. This was real, and I had to truly accept that. My life was this now.

But what of my life before this? My friends and family; did they think I disappeared? Did they think I was dead? They probably did, and I most likely would never see them again.

That thought really killed my mood, but I couldn't help but chuckle humorlessly to myself. At least that didn't change. I always ended up thinking myself into a bad mood back home, especially when I was alone with my thoughts.

 _Fuck me, I should probably get this damn letter done._

…

An hour later, and I was able to get the damn apology letter done. I didn't care if it seemed repetitive at time, or that there may be some spelling mistakes. I was ordered to write a thousand word apology and that's why I did. That Admiral can go fuck himself, though. Fuck that guy. And I think at least some _Mass Effect_ fans back home would agree.

In that hour I spent finishing up the letter, Shepard came back to the ship and set course for some planet. I wasn't sure where or what for, but it was definitely a side mission. Gunfights in basically cop-and-paste environments was something I could live without. Unless they were actually different and unique from one another since this was all real. Maybe I would get a chance to find out if I didn't piss Shepard off again. Actually, I seemed to always piss woman off.

Speaking of the Commander, she had just walked into the crew deck. She spotted me still at the table and came over.

"Any more progress on that apology?" She asked in an amused tone, crossing her arms.

I snorted. "Progress? I got the thing done. All one thousand words."

She raised an eyebrow, shifting her weight to one foot. "Really? Then as your superior, I ask to see it to ensure that it is indeed complete."

"You doubt I'm telling the truth, Commander?" I asked in feigned hurt, placing a hand over my heart. "I'm hurt."

"Just show me the damn letter, smartass," she said with a roll of her eyes. A smile tugged at her lips though.

I pulled the datapad I typed the letter up on and brought up the document. Shepard took it from me when I extended it towards her. She scrolled through the letter briefly, nodding to herself as her eyes went back and forth. It felt like I was about to be graded on it like some high school essay. When she was done, she placed in back on the table in front me.

"Good," she stated with a smile. "Send it to me, and I'll forward it to the Rear Admiral later."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And Ironwill?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I believe there are wash rooms needing cleaning very soon," she said, a large ass grin stretching across her face. "I'm pretty sure someone has to get to that."

My eyes narrowed at her as she turned and went into her cabin. If the geth, krogan, Saren, or Reapers didn't kill me, that woman would. Then again, I did deserve this for how I had been recently. But that should change. Just gotta remind myself that this isn't a game anymore. I couldn't just do my own thing with reckless abandon.

But I really did not want to clean fucking bathrooms (because fuck calling them wash rooms).

…

"Goddamn it!" Shepard yelled when a rocket exploded dangerously close to her cover. Just how many damn pirates were in this place?!

Two hours had passed, the _Normandy_ reached the planet coordinates that Shepard got from Nassana Dantius. Shepard picked Ash and Kaidan again to go with her to find Dantius' sister. It was a bumpy Mako ride from the drop-off point, mostly due to the Commander's horrid driving skills and some turret emplacements, but they reached the small compound that their goal should be.

And inside was practically a horde of pirates. All with rifles, snipers, and one with a damn rocket launcher!

The pirate with the rockets had to reload. Shepard took that moment to peek out of cover and drill a single sniper round into his head. As she fired, the pirate had finished reloading, so when his body fell, the weapon discharged and sent a rocket into a small ground of his allies.

"Now! Push forward!" Shepard ordered, taking advantage of the chaos their enemies were in.

Ash was the first to do so. She put a short burst of bullets from her Avenger into two pirates as she went forward to new cover. A salarian pirate whirled around a pillar as she got close. The salarian gained a quick hit to the face with the butt of Ash's gun and then a single bullet through the brain.

Following close behind, Kaidan came out of cover and hit a pirate with a Throw. The force was enough to send him flying into a wall with a crunch of bones breaking. The Sentinel fired off a few rounds as he moved into place behind a large cargo crate.

As her team pushed forward, Shepard took the chance to move up as well. The moment she left cover, and asari pirate was getting an biotic attack ready. The N7 sniper snapped her sights on the asari and splattered her brains all over the wall behind her.

Hiding a crate came another pirate. He lunged at Shepard. Poorly, at that. She elbowed him in the face and fired a round into his chest one-handed. Taking fire from ahead, her shields taking a few hits, the Commander spun as she reloaded, dropping to a knee. Not even a second later, she was aimed in on the pirate's head and firing a round through their skull.

"Fine, I guess I have to take these bastards out myself!" An asari on the overlooking balcony shouted as she jumped down to fight.

…

"Oh, I hope that isn't what I think it is," I muttered to myself in disgust.

Shepard had me start on the bathrooms before she left for the planet, even showing me where they kept the cleaning supplies. They weren't as large as I expected. In fact, they were similar to the SR-2. A bathroom for men, and a matching one for woman; each one had one toilet and a single shower.

I had cleaned the women's bathroom first. I figured it would be the cleaner of the two anyway. I was kinda wrong. Both looked the same in cleanliness, and they were quick to clean. Although, I had to kneel down to scrub a stubborn stain of… I didn't even want to think of what it was.

"I swear, Joker better not of had his magazines in here," I grumbled as I finished scrubbing the stain.

…

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

Shepard and her team had finished up clearing out the pirates at their little compound. After making sure all hostiles were taken care of, they began searching every room for Dahlia. Each room they checked, she wasn't there. When they breached the final room, an office for whoever was in charge, Shepard let out a disheartened sigh. There was no one in this room either.

"What do you want us to do, Commander?" Kaidan asked, holstering his pistol.

She glanced around the room. Something had to be here. Perhaps they moved Dahlia to a new location. "Search for anything in here that could help us find out where her sister is."

With a nod, Ash and Kaidan started right on that. Ash tried to get into the wall mounted safe to see if there was anything hidden in there. Kaidan, being the most tech savvy of the three there, went to the terminal on the nearby desk. It didn't take him long to break through the weak password encryption and find something interesting.

"Commander, I think I found something!" He called out.

Shepard walked right over. "Whatcha got?"

Kaidan stepped away. "Take a look for yourself."

So she did. She started skimming through the few documents he had pulled up. It didn't take her long to piece things together. And she was pissed.

"Goddamn, that asari bitch," she said in frustration. "She used us. Dahlia wasn't being held by slavers. She _was_ the slaver. And by the looks of this, Dahlia planned to blackmail her sister."

"What are you going to do?" Ash asked.

Shepard looked at the Chief. "I'm going to go see how much willpower I have to not punch Dantius in the face before arresting her."

…

The Commander came back from the planet looking mad. And she rarely got mad, from what I knew. I was trying to think of what could piss her off. Maybe she took out the asari diplomat's sister. I would have been pissed off myself at that. Hell, I was annoyed at her when I was simply playing the game.

Anyway, Shepard had us going right back to the Citadel. She wanted to get back to the diplomat as soon as possible to deal with her apparently. She stayed in her cabin most of the trip back, but halfway through she came out and went to the bridge. When she got back, she went to the kitchen to get something to either drink or eat. I was sitting at a table, tinkering with my Phalanx.

Shepard came over, cup of water in one hand, and sat at across from me. "You get the wash rooms cleaned?"

I glanced up and finished sliding the a section of the gun into place. "Yes, I did. How'd the mission go?"

She grumbled. "The asari that asked for my help in finding her sister failed to mention that her sister didn't need finding and that she was leading the pirates that supposedly took her."

"She had you do her dirty work for her," I stated.

"Yes, she did. And I'm going to give her a piece of my mind when we get to the Citadel."

I smirked when I thought of something. "Be sure to record it if you punch her." All the gained me was a blank look, and a slap to the back of the head if she could have reached that far.

"Just for that, I want you to clean the wash room in my cabin later today," Shepard said with a smug look.

The things my stupid mouth gets me into…

…

The moon. She's going to the damn moon, and I wasn't allowed to go!

I wanted to me EDI before she was… well, EDI. I found this out after Shepard got back from dealing with Nassana Dantius, and she didn't seem all too happy about not being able to arrest Nassana. You couldn't get arrested for lying apparently. But Shepard settled with making a deal with Nassana so the diplomat didn't try anything else.

Boy, would Shepard be in for a surprise when recruiting Thane.

Now, I was legit about to clean Shepard's bathroom. She left the door unlocked for me and gave me specific orders not go rummaging through her cabin. Not like I would though.

Stepping into her cabin, I found the bed was a mess with a pillow practically thrown across the room. Her small desk off to the side was a mess of datapads and actual paper. In a small pile in the corner of the room was her dirty clothing. To be honest, I was expecting everything to be neat and tidy given she was an Alliance Commander. Then again, she did wake up this morning with a massive hangover.

 _Hell, enough gawking. Time to get this bathroom cleaned._

…

"Fucking hell!" Shepard exclaimed, bits of shrapnel pinging off her shields.. What the hell was it with rockets today? First the pirates, now these VI controlled drones. She didn't think this rogue VI would have been able to control that many, despite Hackett telling her it controlled everything in the bunker.

A booming report of a shotgun echoed through the bunker followed by a crash of metal parts and a hearty krogan chuckle. Shepard was so glad she brought Wrex on this one. He seemed to be enjoying himself, blasting drones out of the air. It made going through this place easier, especially since this place was quite large. That, and she brought Tali along with her. A quarian tech expert made short work of the drones as well, but there was just so many.

The place there were sent to, though, was a training bunker under the surface of Luna. Its purpose was to do live-fire simulations for new military technology. There were three levels to the place, with their goal being on the very bottom. All the scientist, engineers, and Alliance soldiers that were here were killed by the VI. To no small comfort, there were minimum personnel here at the time the thing went rogue; only about thirty people were killed.

Shepard spun out of cover, into a crouch, and leveled her sights on a drone. She waited a full second to fire. In that second, two more drones flew into her scope as well. Her bullet tore through their metal plating, ripping apart their electronics, and sending all three drones crashing into the ground.

There was a slight lapses in drones, and the Commander ordered Wrex and Tali to push up. An elevator was behind them, but Shepard wasn't going to risk the VI taking control of that and trapping them inside. So, she had them take the stairs.

She led them down to the second level. Turning around the corner to the new floor, she had to jump into cover as a rocket sped by and exploded off the wall.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Shepard shouted. Rockets. Rockets everywhere today.

…

My head was pounding. No, pounding wasn't a good enough description. It felt like a toddler with super strength was beating my head in with a damn tree. I didn't even want to move to go see Chakwas about it. So, I sat on Shepard's bed, head in my heads as I wished the pain away.

I had just finished cleaning Shepard's bathroom like she ordered when it started. I was thinking about how my buddies back home would probably suggest going through her stuff to find anything to mess with her with. The more I thought about home, the more my head pounded. It was like I was trying to remember something else at the same time, but my mind didn't know what it was trying to remember as well. Like it was trying to rip itself apart to figure it out.

Why did it hurt so much…?

"Ironwill?"

I glanced up. Shepard was there in her doorway. Must have just gotten back from the Moon. At first she looked confused as to why I was still in here, then that changed a slight worried look as I grimaced from my head.

"Are you okay?" She asked in a soft voice.

The headache subsided a bit. I let out a heavy breath and stood up slowly. "Yeah, just a headache or something. I had to take a moment." I picked up the caddies with the cleaning supplies and went to leave.

Shepard stopped by blocking the doorway. She gave me a long look. "You sure you're okay? Doesn't seem like a headache would do much to you."

"I'm fine," I said with a slight smile.

"Okay," she replied after a short pause. "But if it keeps up, go to the med-bay. That's an order. And no need to clean the armors today. You get the night off."

I gave her a small two-finger salute. "Yes, ma'am." At that, Shepard let me through, and I went to return the supplies to where they belonged.

…

Scarlet Shepard stared at the door as Ironwill left. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit worried about him right now. The look of pain on his face when she entered her cabin was concerning. And from just a headache? She found that difficult to believe, especially after what she has seen him do so far.

Whatever it was, she hoped it wasn't anything serious. A weird feeling welled up in her chest just thinking about the possibility of something happening to him… similar to the feeling she had when he was recovering after the mission to Feros.

…

 _ **A/N: And Ta-da! I know it wasn't too much going on, but I tried to make the parts with Shepard on her little missions fun and tried showing her as a badass sniper I want her to be. Next chapter should see Ironwill getting back in the action though. That chapter probably won't be a long one, but after that I have something fun in store. You'll have to wait and see, and I will not be gone for about a year this time. Maybe a week or two.**_

 _ **Until next time!**_


	17. Chapter 17 Back in Action

**_**A/N:**_** ** _ **200\. You guys got 200**_ **follo** **ws** _ **on this story**_** ** _ **(now nearly 220)**_** ** _ **. Holy shit! I never thought this story would do so good. I thought it would get ignored and maybe get at least 5 follows. But no, 200 of you want to follow this story, and about 120 have favorited**_** ** _ **(now closer to 130)**_** ** _ **. Just… thank you. I don't know what else to say besides that; I'm at a lost for words, to be honest.**_**

 ** _ **And, I apologize for the longer wait than expected. Internet issues and all.**_**

 ** _ **Anyway, enjoy the first chapter with Ironwill back to active duty.**_** ** _ **It turned out much longer than I expected lol.**_**

 **…**

When the Commander got back after dealing with the rogue VI, it was well into the evening. And since it didn't seem like there was going to be anything else to do, I decided to call it a day early. My headache had subsided significantly by then, but it still lingered when I went to sleep.

The next morning, the headache was still around faintly. I decided to head into the med-bay for something for the pain. This was getting annoying now. And I still didn't understand why it suddenly happened or why it was so intense.

"Hey, Doc," I said, stepping into the med-bay.

Chakwas looked up from her desk and offered a smile. "Good morning, Daniel. What brings you in here?"

I had to hold up a finger to signal 'one moment' because a yawn decided to show itself then. And it was a long one. My jaw popped audibly enough for Chakwas to hear it. It hurt too. I swear, I've had more pain inflicted on me since join up on this ship than my entire life before.

"That sounded pleasant," she deadpanned.

"Didn't feel pleasant either," I stated, flexing my jaw a bit. God, I hated when that happened. Always took a few minutes for the weird feeling that came after to go away. "Anyway, I came in to see if you had anything for a headache."

She hummed in thought as she stood up and walked over to a small locked cabinet. Opening it up, Chakwas scanned through the contents until she found what she wanted. Pulling out two packaged pills, she came back over and grave them to me.

"Those should help," she said. "And if for whatever reason they don't, come back and I'll give you something stronger for the pain."

I nodded. "Got it, doc. Thanks."

"Anytime, Daniel."

With that, I went into the kitchen to get some water to take these with. I could never take any type of pill without something to drink. Unlike my grandmother. She could swallowed medicine dry, and it always confused those of us in the family who didn't.

But when I was a kid, I just couldn't take pills at all. If I remember, if was because I was worried they would get caught in my throat or something. It sounds dumb as hell now, but I was an awkward kid. How the hell did I go from that, to flying around the galaxy, helping the best soldier ever take down a rogue Spectre?

Speaking of that, I should be able to head out on missions again. My wound is healed enough. Which is surprising. I expected it to take much longer. The medicine here must be even better than I thought. Or maybe Rumple did something, as much as I hated to think of that Watcher asshole. He did say he couldn't have me dying just yet.

Eh, whatever. I get to go out on missions again. I think. I would have to check with Shepard on that. I couldn't remember if it was three missions I was sidelined or what. There was the Dantius mission, the Moon mission, and… I had no idea if she did anything else while on the Citadel. Fuck it, I'd just wait until I see her to ask.

Grabbing a some sort of simple breakfast bar… thing, and a glass of water, I sat down at a table nearby. Typically, I would take one pill at a time simply out of habit, but I wanted this damn headache gone. So, I downed both of them in one go, and then went on to eating the breakfast bar. It wasn't anything special. Seemed to have been given as a sort of quick thing to eat and possibly take into the field without worry of it going bad.

I opened up my omni-tool. Now, what was buzzing on the internet… er, extranet.

I found a recommended news article about Shepard. There was still a buzz about her being the first human Spectre. Most seemed happy about it, most of them being humans. From what I was reading, those who didn't like it were turians. Not surprising. A lot of those guys are still bitter about the First Contact War. It was their fault, mostly. They did the thinking with their guns and not their heads.

Movement from the side gained my attention. Looking up slightly, Shepard was coming out of her cabin looking freshly dressed but still tired. Hell, she looked really tired. Did she have a shitty night sleep or something?

"Morning, Ironwill," she muttered in passing on her way to the coffee pot.

"Good morning, Shepard," I returned with a smile. Then I decided to question why she looked so tired. "Bad night sleep?"

She glanced over before turning back to the coffee pot and putting in a fresh filter. "Something like that."

I left it at that. Shepard didn't seem to be in a talking mood. Maybe if she got some caffeine into her. Either way, I was going to wait to ask if I was clear to return to duty. Sure as hell hoped I was. It would making being on bathroom and armor cleaning duty a whole lot more bearable, even if it was simple and easy to accomplish.

The Commander finished brewing the coffee, filled a mug, and sat down across from me without a word. I just continued to scroll through Google (I still couldn't believe it was still around) for something to read. Until Shepard spoke up a minute or two later.

"How's the headache?" She asked, taking a sip of her morning drink. "Did it go away?"

"I went to Chakwas like twenty minutes ago because it was hurting a bit," I said. "She gave me some pills for the pain. Headache is pretty much gone now."

She nodded. "That's good because I woke up to a message from the Alliance regarding a possible geth signal. I want you on the team I take with me."

"The three mission grounding is up already?"

With a sigh, she nodded again. "Yesterday was a bit busy for me. On top of dealing with that asari diplomat and that Luna training facility, I ran around the Citadel for a couple hours helping people. Technically, all that probably added up to eight missions, so you're good to go."

Ah, yes. The side mission grind. At least it could have been more interesting than it was in the game most times. Unless it literally was 'go here, do that, come back' for her. That would have been awful. In terms of interesting side content, _The Witcher 3_ set a standard to what side missions/quests should be. In that game, even the side stuff had a little story to it.

I fucking loved that game too. Huh, maybe it was still around. I would have to check online later. If it was still around, and if there were any PS4s still available, I would totally buy both just to experience that game again.

"I still gotta get to the CIC and plot a course to the signal location," Shepard went on, her voice significantly less tired. The coffee was really doing wonders. "After that though, it should be a few hours until we reach the place."

"Copy that, ma'am," I replied like a smartass, smirking.

She gave me a look that I might start calling the 'I'mma-smack-this-idiot' look. "Are you always like this?"

"Not on Wednesdays. That's a holy day for smartasses."

That gained a sudden laugh that the Commander tried to quickly subdue by putting a hand over her mouth. She still couldn't help but giggle. To be honest, it was kind cute, her giggle.

I mentally slapped myself.

 _Ironwill, no! She's your commanding officer. No matter how attractive you might find her, it would be against Alliance regulations._ _It was in Alliance regs, right?_

"Anyway," Shepard said, her giggling having passed, "just because you're allowed on missions again, doesn't mean you are free from your other punishment. You're still going to be cleaning the wash rooms for 2 weeks and the team's armor after every mission until I say otherwise. Understand?"

"Yes, understood," I answered with a sigh. As much as I would find it annoying, I just had to deal with it. Besides, she could have given me something much worst besides those two tasks.

"Good," she said as she stood up. "Now, I'm going to go plot the course to the coordinates the Alliance sent." With that, she finished the rest of her coffee, place the mug in the sink, and went up to the CIC.

Okay… now what to do for the next few hours?

…

On the trip to the planet, I decided to go check my gear. It had been a few days without me properly looking over my stuff. At least since I was skewered on Feros. Which reminded me, my wound healed really fast. I still think Rumple had something to do with that, for whatever sick purpose he needs me alive still for.

I would kill him before then though. That was a promise. He took me from my family, my friends, my _home_ , and hurled me into a clusterfuck of a galaxy were an impending apocalypse was on its way. And for what? That I didn't know, but I would make sure the bastard would tell me right before I choke the life out of him.

I had to calm myself while I was checking on my gear. My biotics seemed tied to my emotions, and I didn't want them to flare up a bright red for no reason.

Anyway, all of my stuff appeared to be in working order. My armor, having been freshly repaired the other day by Avitus, was ready for the mission ahead. I couldn't help but stop and stare at the M1911 though. This was the gun Rumple used to shoot me. It was easier to bring me over to another universe if my 'life is slowly slipping away', as he put it.

There I was again, thinking about my situation. I looked up and around the cargo bay. Garrus was working on the Mako, as always. Ash was at her little bench cleaning a rifle. Wrex was… he was Wrex.

I needed to be alone.

…

The spot at the back of the row of sleeping pods had unofficially became my spot when I needed to actually think on things. And I couldn't help thinking about home. Thinking about my friends and family I was taken away from.

Did they know I was gone? If they did, did anyone miss me? Or was this all a very lucid dream fueled by a drug-induced coma? God, the unknown of it all gnawed at me with no end! And the randomness of these thoughts annoyed the fuck out of me too! It was just like high school with my bouts of severe depression through those four years.

Deep down in the back of my mind, I honestly thought that if this was all a dream, then I should be able to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger with no consequences at all. If it was a dream, I wouldn't die. I would possible wake up, back to wherever the hell I was, whether that was my apartment or a hospital room. Then the logical part of my mind argued that what would happen if this wasn't a dream; I would end up killing myself for false hope.

No, this was my life now. I had to help stop the Reapers. But was I actually ready for that? Would I even change anything with what I knew? So far, I've been going around thinking this was all a dream or a game still; I didn't take it seriously. Now, the task ahead of everyone on this ship was a massive one. I knew what was going to happen. I had to put that to use. These people were starting to be my friends, no… there already were my friends. I'd be damned if I didn't put my all into making sure they were safe.

 _Okay, Ironwill… enough of the pity party. Get your ass up and get ready for the mission. You're no use to anyone if your thoughts are eating you alive._

That's what I did. I got up, let out a calming breath, and made my way to my locker.

…

God damn, it felt good to be in my armor again. I hadn't realized that I actually missed the feeling before a mission, even if it was just a few days. The feeling sealing the pressure seals. The weight of my guns holstered.

Hell, who knew this would feel normal? It's like I got here, and all this shit was just routine from the start. Some fuck who played video games on his days off of work found combat armor, guns, and fighting… normal, just like that. No training, no nothing.

"What are you gawking at?"

I blinked and looked up. Wrex was staring at me from the Mako. I couldn't tell if he was annoyed or if that was just his regular expression. Or maybe he was always annoyed.

"You have brain damage or something?" Wrex asked. "What the hell you staring at?"

"No, no," I quickly said. "Just thinking."

He sized me up a moment before huffing. "If you were 'thinking' any longer, I would have thought you had the hots for me, Daniel."

I scoffed with smirk. "In your dreams, Wrex. No one would ever think a grizzly face like yours would be hot."

The old krogan chuckled lightly, the noise coming out more like a soft rumble. "You've clearly never met a krogan woman, kid."

Goddamn it! Would everyone end up calling me kid? I was twenty-goddamn-one years old! That is literally what most people considered an adult. Then again, Wrex was like a thousand years old or close to it. Everyone to him was probably a kid in his eyes. Those large reptile eyes of his.

Don't krogan have a hundred-eighty degree view with those things?

"You're both cute," a voice said as the elevator doors opened. It was Shepard, arms crossed over her armored chest with smirk on her face. Behind her was Kaidan, all armored up too. "Now, get your asses in the Mako." It wasn't really an order. Just a suggestion that jokes should start dying down soon.

"Copy that," I said with a two-finger salute. Wrex grunted with a nod.

"Okay, scans suggest the planet low in O2," Kaidan said as we all started heading to the Mako. "Make sure helmets are on and pressurized before we drop."

"Thanks for the heads up, old man," I commented, patting the Lieutenant on the shoulder. I put on my helmet and closed it. A slight hiss echoed in my ears as it pressurized while the HUD came online. "Now I won't suffocate planet-side."

"You're such an optimist, Daniel," he replied with chuckle.

"Oh, I'm far from an optimist. More of a cynic and a realist."

A hand plopped down on my shoulder. It was Shepard and she had a smile on her face. "Well, Mr. Cynic, how about you get your realist butt in the Mako and stop holding us up?"

I looked over at the Mako. It was a good five yards away. Wrex was already climbing in, too. "Doesn't look like I'm holding anyone up."

"Just get in the damn tank, already," Wrex called from the Mako. "My trigger finger is getting itchy, and if I don't shoot some geth soon, I'll have to use Daniel as target practice." He finished with a laugh.

I gave him the finger. "Up yours, you old fart!"

Chuckling, Shepard said, "Alright, guys, enough of that. Time to get serious. We're dropping in a few, so load up and strap yourselves down."

And we did just that. Setting jokes aside now, we climbed into the Mako and began strapping ourselves in. Shepard would be driving, so we would need all the safety we could get in here. Damn thing was a death trap with her behind the wheels.

" _We are approaching the drop-off point,_ " Joker announced through our comms. " _ETA: two minutes._ "

I made one final check on the harness straps keeping me in place. Wrex was sat next to me. He didn't really seem to care in his were secure or not. Then again, he has been through hundreds of years worth of fighting. A Mako drop and Shepard's driving are probably child's play to him.

" _Dropping in three… two… one,_ " Joker said again. _"Stay safe out there, Commander!_ "

The Mako lurched forward then sped out of the cargo bay. Like the first two drops I was apart of, it felt like my stomach was trying to climb its way into my throat as the tank fell from the sky. As a kid, I never like roller coasters, but this… I somewhat enjoyed these Mako drops. There was a kind of weightlessness to it as well.

Then came the impact. The hard lurch as the wheels made contact with the dirt from at least a couple hundred feet up. And the straps pressing down on my chest as the tank skidded to a stop. A wild ride with a very sudden stop.

Now the real fun would begin.

…

We found the origin of the geth signal on the planet; the landscape of this place was a rocky green with a faint haze in the air. From a few hundred meters out, Shepard parked the Mako on a hill with a clear line of sight to what seemed to be an outpost of sorts. I wasn't sure it was the best place to set up shop to scout the place out, but Shepard knew better. She was an N7 sniper, after all.

"Got anything, Commander?" Kaidan asked from the side.

Shepard was scanning the place with a pair of binoculars you would expect to see in _Mass Effect_. "It's definitely geth. They seemed to have set up in some sort of outpost, possibly took it over from some pirates."

"So expect some of those husk things we encountered on Eden Prime?"

"Husks?" I questioned. Obviously, I knew what husks were, but I don't think I had actually encountered them here yet.

"From what we could tell on Eden Prime," Shepard said, looking away from the outpost and to me, "the geth impale humans on these sort of spikes and it transforms them into some sort of… extremely cybernetic zombie."

"I don't know what the hell a zombie is, but if it moves, I'm gonna kill it," Wrex grunted through his helmet where he stood on top of the Mako. "Simple as that."

"These things are easy enough to take down as one," Kaidan explained, "but a horde of them could be a problem, even for a krogan."

Wrex simply grunted. Honestly, he would probably find a horde of husks fun to kill.

"Sooo," I said slowly, "these husks are like those things back on Feros."

Shepard thought a moment. "Not exactly. Husks were people once, while those thorian things seemed to be organic masses."

"No acid then?"

"Don't worry, Ironwill. Should a husk tackle you here, you won't be getting an acid shower." Even though I couldn't see her face behind her helmet, the smirk was clear as day in her voice.

I rolled my eyes. "Hopefully this is nothing like Feros. I rather not get impaled again."

Hmm, that was interesting. Shepard didn't say anything to that, but her demeanor changed. She looked at the ground a moment before quickly turning her attention back to the outpost. Her shoulders tensed up just the slightest amount. Shit, she probably doesn't like the idiot of losing one of her crew; I mean, no commanding officer likes having those under them die, but Shepard seems like that sort of thing hits her hard. She worries about her crew, as shown when she was there when I woke up after Feros.

Over the horizon, I spotted something approaching the outpost. With the built-in zoom function Avitus put in my helmet, I tried to get a better look. Shit, a geth dropship. That would complicate things.

"You see that too, Shepard?" I asked, not taking my eyes from the dropship as it hovered over the outpost. I got no reply. "Commander!"

I knew why she didn't reply. She was frozen still. Like a damn statue. The other two were as well. Only one… thing was able to do that.

"Rumple," I growled, my biotics flaring red ever so faintly.

In a puff a purple smoke, that piece of shit in question materialized in front of me with an overdramatic flair. "Hello, dearie! Miss me?"

"No," I answered flatly.

He visibly deflated as if my answer actually offended him. It didn't. Simply an act by the mad bastard. Everything seemed like a damn game to him.

"Oh, don't be like that, dearie," he said in feigned hurt. "It's been a few days since we talked. Surely you missed me a little." Rumple didn't wait to for me to say anything. He whirled around, staring into the direction of the geth outpost. "Seems to be quite the situation your Commander has brought you all to. I bet nothing could make it even more challenging."

He looked back with a sick grin on his face and snapped his fingers. All that happened was a small spark appeared as he snapped. I didn't trust him though.

"What did you just do?" I demanded.

"Who? Me?" Rumple looked around as if there was possibly anyone else I could have been talking to. The others were frozen in time! "I've done nothing! Well… nothing drastic anyway." He giggled. God, I fucking hated that mad giggle of his. "I felt like this would be too boring of a mission your first day back, so I added a bit of _spice_ to it. Now it will certainly be quite the piece of entertainment!"

I felt the rock under my foot crack. I really was trying my hardest not to attack the fucker. There wasn't anything I could do. He had powers beyond anything I could comprehend. Rumple could simply snap me out of existence, Thanos-style, for all I knew.

No, his 'Boss' must not know he's doing this shit. The day will come when he does find out, and when that day happens, I will be sure to have a bag of popcorn ready to watch it.

For now though, I had to endure.

"Well, dearie, I have to be off," Rumple announced, giggling. "But don't worry, I'll be watching. It's what I do, after all. Hehehe!" With a flamboyant wave of his arm, he was disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

"That dropship? Yeah, I see it, Ironwill," Shepard said the moment time unfroze. I guess she did hear me ask that before Rumple appeared. "Nothing we can't handle though."

Wrex jumped down from his little perch. "So, what's the plan, Shepard? I say we just charge in, take them by surprise. All this sitting and watching seems best suited for those sneaky salarians."

I shook my head. "It's geth, Wrex. Taking them by surprise isn't a good option. One of them sees us, they all see us. That's how they work." I tried my best to not sound still annoyed by Rumple, but I wasn't able to do the best job at that. Taking a deep breath, I went on. "But if we tried to sneak in and took out that dropship before they knew we were there, then we could turn that place upside down."

"I was thinking something very similar," Shepard commented. "But we wouldn't want to get put in the middle of that place went they all notice us. We would need a distraction set at the right time." She glanced over at the Mako then to Wrex. You could practically hear the gears turning. "Wrex, do you think your big butt could fit in the driver's seat of that thing?"

The old krogan examined the tank a moment. Then he chuckled slowly. "I think I'm going to enjoy this plan."

…

Shepard led the way slowly. No one could hear her steps. It was like she was a phantom; not truly there. Several years of training to be a skilled sniper would do that. She needed to be quiet, needed to be a ghost. Only when she wanted to be noticed, would she.

Kaidan and I followed closely behind. The back outer wall of the outpost loomed over us as we crouch-walked along it. The plan was to sneak in and set up charges on that dropship's fuel line and blow it to hell while Wrex came in with a little surprise. And it was a damn better idea than charging in. This place had nearly three times the amount of geth than we realized. It wasn't like Therum or Feros where they were in small groups each time we came across them.

The Lieutenant thought this might become a sort of FOB for some sort of geth invasion when the Reapers come if Saren find the Conduit. I wasn't sure what this place was supposed to be, but with its close location relative to the Citadel, it could be meant as a recon outpost and a staging area for the coming attack on the Citadel.

Whatever this place was for, we were about to riddle it with bullets. And explosions. Annnnd a Mako. The _Normandy_ crew really didn't do subtle, huh?

Shepard held up a fist, and Kaidan and I stopped. Being at the rear, I turned the other way and watched our backs. Not like it mattered in terms of being discovered, but if we were discovered, being shot in the backs did not sound like a fun experience. God knows we have enough bullets that are gonna be coming our way soon enough.

Anyway, the Commander peered around the corner of the structure. During our scouting before final approach here, the dropship landed right around that corner, possibly to fuel up or arm up again. Shepard looked only a moment before she was looking back to us.

"Dropship's unguarded," she stated quietly. "No geth in immediate sight, either." She quickly peered around the corner again. "We should be in the clear. Let's move."

In an almost graceful manner, Shepard whirled around the corner and pushed forward. Kaidan followed right behind, giving about a ten foot distance before he went out. When he was clear, I tapped the grip of my rifle and went after them.

Shit, why did the geth have to use this purple colored architecture? The seemed to have replaced most of the original structure with it. I never liked it in the games, but I guess that was the point. Geth were meant to be seen asan enemy for a majority of the trilogy. Hell, even their ship designs were creepy looking; like some kind of insect in design.

The dropship had some cables attached to its underside coming from the wall, glowing lines on the side pulsating. Where those fuel lines or power lines? If they were fuel lines, we could use those to cause more damage here.

"What are those for, fueling?" Kaidan whispered.

"Or power lines of sort," I muttered. "But fuel lines seems the better guess."

Shepard didn't say anything, just kept moving forward to the dropship quietly. Attached to her belt was a jury-rigged grenade packing 4 times the punch as a regular grenade; that was what she put together for this plan since there was no actual demo charges with us. She was damned good at it too. I was impressed when she was putting it together, the ease of with she made it. It was like second nature to her. Guess this wasn't the first time she handled high explosives.

Anyway, she moved under the dropship, occasionally looking over her shoulder for any geth. As she examined for a good spot to place the grenade, Kaidan and I watched her back.

"Psst, Ironwill," I heard from behind. Shepard was holding out her spare grenade. "Place this by the wall, by the cables."

I knew what she had in mind. Taking the grenade, I hurried over and placed the grenade in a spot I thought could cause the most damage when it went off. The Commander must have it connected to the same detonator as the main one.

"Okay," Shepard said, stepping away from the dropship and readying her sniper. "Let's move. Same way we came from."

Now all we had to do was wait for the dropship to take off again. Then we would call in Wrex and blow the dropship to hell and back. And with it being freshly fueled up, if that is what the cables were for, then the explosion should be spectacular.

Behind the outpost was a little ridge. It was high enough to look clear over the top of the outpost, but we had a decent view for when that dropship took off. It was only five minutes after arming the explosive that the thing was in the air.

"Hey, Wrex," Shepard said into her omni-tool, a smirk on her face. "It's time for you to come over. The party's about to start."

Only sound that came over the comms was a deep menacing chuckle.

Any other time, I would have found that amusing. But what Rumple said… what the hell did he do? He could do anything. He dropped an armature on the highway back on Feros. He could freeze time. Hell, he literally made the fights easier up until the last bit of Feros. For all I knew, he thought sending a geth dreadnought here was 'spicing things up'.

God, I hoped I didn't just jinx it.

I watched anxiously as the dropship rose higher in the air. Faintly, in the distance, a rumble could be heard getting closer. That had to be the Mako, and Wrex had to be putting that thing to its limit. But then… then there was another sound. A rhythmic, harmonic pulsing sound. And it got louder and louder. Shepard and Kaidan heard it too.

"What is that?" The Lieutenant asked, trying to pinpoint the origin. "Is that the coming from the outpost?"

There was an explosion at the front of the outpost, and you could tell every geth in that place turned towards it. Even the dropship. Wrex must have gotten in range of that the place.

"We can figure that out in a moment," Shepard said. "But now..." Her omni-tool powered up and she tapped the interface.

Simultaneously, the explosives on the dropship and by those cables went off. Then hell was unleashed. Our guess that it was a fuel line was right, because that side of the outpost was completely consumed by a fireball. And the dropship, the explosive went off and rocked the thing to the side hard. A follow-up explosion utterly tore the thing apart in a breath-taking blue inferno. All the while, Wrex was tearing up geth at the front of the outpost.

The debris from that dropship hadn't even fallen to the ground yet when another, heavily armed dropship flew right over the three of us and towards Wrex and the Mako.

"Shit!' I yelled. "Guess we found what was making that sound!" This had to be Rumple's little surprise.

"Damn right," Shepard muttered, then louder, "Alright, get down there and mop up! Wrex, do not actively engage that dropship! Distract it, but nothing more, copy?"

" _I read ya, Shepard,_ " came the krogan's response as the three of us slid down the slope of the ridge. " _And don't worry, I ain't stupid. That thing looks like it could take out half the Citadel._ "

We rounded the other side to the front of the outpost. Smoke was filling the area. Debris from the outpost and the first dropship was scatted about, some of it on fire. Some even looked to have crushed some geth with. And all the geth seemed not to have noticed us as there were still firing in the direction Wrex should have been. There was maybe thirty of them in total, mostly regular troopers and shocks and maybe one destroyer.

Shepard didn't even say anything. She leveled out her gun and fired. Two geth went down as her round tore through them. About a third of the geth turned our way, and about half of that turned back towards Wrex and the Mako. Their consensus must not have thought we were that much of a threat. Big mistake.

I switched my gun to three round burst and fired into the group before the could react. It was more to give covering fire while the three of us ran to cover. One geth did go down before a ran and slid behind what must have been a barrier for the previous occupants here, bullets hitting the ground behind me as I went by.

Five of those flashlight heads were quickly turned to scrap. By then, their consensus put a bigger threat priority on us because ten more and a destroyer turned our way. That I wasn't worried about. The heavy dropship turning around to face the three of us did.

The thing dropped a damn armature right ahead of us on top of firing its mounted turrets at us. Combined with that, the geth on the ground, and the armature, we were bogged down hard. Too many bullets to use a biotic wall for cover just by myself, and most of these bastards had shields that my biotics weren't going to affect.

"Do you think we pissed them off?" I shouted over the sound of gunfire, jerking my head to the side as a round ricocheted off my cover.

Shepard popped out of cover, taking out a shock trooper with a headshot, and was right back down again. She looked over at me, and I could see the smile in her eyes. "They haven't nuked us yet, so I would say no."

"Commander, please don't give them any ideas," Kaidan said. "I don't think the Alliance would be happy if we lose another Mako."

"Then I shouldn't have Wrex driving it right now!"

As if on cue, the Mako drove forward through the crowd of geth. The crunch of metal under its massive tires was oddly satisfying as Wrex ran down several of the synthetic bastards. He brought the Mako around and put it between us and the geth, practically drifting the tank into position. The side door opened with a clang.

"Get the hell in!" Came the gruff shout from inside.

We didn't hesitate. The three of us piled in as fast as we could. Wrex didn't even let the door shut before he was peeling out of there. I went to the gunner seat immediately and turned it around, letting off shots and rockets as Wrex put space between us and the dropship. That damn dropship had tough ass shields.

"So, I guess we're abandoning this mission?" Wrex asked from below. Jesus, we was a much better driver than Shepard.

"Fuck, no," Shepard stated with determination. "Swing us back around. I have an idea. Ironwill, when Wrex brings us around again, I want you to unload on that dropship. Take down its shields."

"Copy that," I muttered, letting out a long burst of fire at that dropship as we got closer. This wouldn't end well, driving full speed at that damn thing. But then again, this was Commander Shepard. The badass woman pretty much held off a batarian invasion by herself, so I had at least a little faith that her idea was going to work out.

"Shepard, I hope you know what you're doing," Wrex called out from the driver's seat. "Because if you don't, this is going to end up worse than that time a volus tweaked out on red sand and tried to attack me with a krogan battle axe."

Wait, what? I had to peek down from the gunner seat to look at Wrex. "I have so many questions, but first: why do krogan need battle axes?"

Wrex had a blank look on his face as he glanced back. "To kill things. Why else?"

I couldn't help but laugh as I got back into the gunner seat. Wrex had finally turned the Mako around and was hauling ass back to the outpost down the shallow valley that led to it. The barrel of the main gun practically hissed as heat rose from it as I held down the trigger, sending a hail of bullets and rockets at the dropship as it began to fire back, while Wrex tried his best to avoid taking hits.

"Wrex, when we get 200 meters away, I want you to keep this thing as steady as possible," the Commander ordered. I heard her unfold her sniper.

The closer Wrex got, the more I tried to fire at the dropship as much as possible without overheating the gun to the point it broke. When Wrex called out that we were 500 meters away, the sound of the Mako's door opening could barely be heard over the engine.

"Shepard, what are you doing?" I heard Kaidan ask, sounding a bit concerned.

"Trust me, Lieutenant," was the answer he got.

When Wrex called out that we were 200 meters out, I saw the very tip of a rifle appear in the turret's camera. That was Shepard's sniper.

Oh, God. Was she…? No, she wasn't that crazy.

"One hundred meters, Shepard!" Wrex yelled. "Whatever you're about to do, do it now!"

"Ironwill, I need that shield down!"

"I'm working on it!" I yelled back. This fucking dropship was annoying as hell. The turret had overheated 8 times already, and I must have fired at least twenty rockets at it too!

I fired two more rockets and let a long burst of bullets fly at the thing. There was a flicker around the dropship. It was faint, but it was there. Two more rockets were sent flying at it, and when those hit, we all say the shields visibly break.

In the same moment, a sniper shot rang out in the Mako. I saw the muzzle flash in the camera of the gunner seat. Following its path, there was a small explosion on the underside of the dropship, most like a tiny flash as the bullet connected. Wrex skidded the tank to a halt as we all stared up at it. Hell, even the geth piloting that thing seemed to be surprised because they stopped shooting.

"That was it?" I asked incredulously. It was… anticlimactic, to say the least.

Suddenly, the entire one side of the dropship exploded outwards. It fell from the sky, and the moment it made connect with the ground (right on top of the other geth) the resulting explosion was strong enough to even shake the Mako.

So, we sat there a moment, staring at the now burning ball of fire that _was_ the geth outpost. The place literally was just fire and some bits of debris now. If there was anything inside, it was beyond salvaging now.

The Mako door shut, and I heard Shepard take a seat.

"You were saying, Ironwill?" She asked, cocky smirk clear as day in her voice.

I came down from the gunner seat and narrowed my eyes at her even though she couldn't see them. "How about we just head back to the ship now, smartass?"

"Commander Smartass to you, Private."

"Yeah, yeah."

 **…**

 ** _ **A/N: Ta-da! I hope this chapter didn't drag out for too long.**_** ** _ **I didn't want to rush it either though,**_** ** _ **ya know?**_** ** _ **It was like over 3000 words alone from the moment the Mako dropped to the end;**_** ** _ **like 3,900 to give an idea**_** ** _ **. Still, while I like that it was a long chapter, I think it could have been better. But if I would try to re-do the chapter, I feel that it wouldn't even be as good as it is now. So, I'm happy with the outcome, I just feel like I could have done better.**_**

 ** _ **Let me know what you guys and gals thought.**_**

 ** _ **Until next time!**_**


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